Crowns and bridges are the perfect union of dental art and dental science: a prosthetic tooth that’s as functional as it is beautiful. Maja Simic, DDS, provides her patients with stunningly high-quality dental crowns and bridges at Smile Dental Studio Glenview in Glenview, Illinois. If you want to restore a damaged, unsightly, or missing tooth, schedule your crown or bridge visit today by calling the office or booking an appointment online.
Crowns and Bridges Q & A
What is a crown?
A crown is an artificial tooth cap that’s permanently sealed to a pre-existing root structure, like a natural tooth root or a dental implant. Once in place, a crown covers up the entirety of your tooth above the gumline and feels and functions just like a natural tooth. Depending on the material used, your crown can look just like a natural tooth, too!
What does a crown do?
Crowns serve a variety of functions, like:
- Replacing a misshapen, discolored, or unsightly tooth
- Restoring a tooth that’s suffered significant damage or decay
- Protecting a compromised tooth from further damage
Crowns are also frequently used after a root canal to restore your tooth’s strength and structure.
What is a bridge?
A bridge is an oral prosthetic that replaces a tooth that’s missing entirely. It’s composed of an artificial tooth, called a “pontic,” that has crowns sealed on either side. The crowns are affixed to the teeth adjacent to your missing tooth, leaving the bridge to literally “bridge” the space between your teeth.
If your teeth can’t support crowns, there are alternative bridges that can still restore your smile. A cantilever bridge has a crown on just one side, while a Maryland bonded bridge has a pontic that’s held in place by a metal framework that’s sealed to the backside of your adjacent teeth.
What are the benefits of a bridge?
By replacing your missing tooth, bridges are beneficial to your smile in a number of ways, such as:
- Improve your appearance
- Prevent your remaining teeth from falling out of alignment
- Maintain the shape of your face
- Make it easier to properly speak and chew
Bridges also help to evenly distribute the force in your bite, which helps to prevent against the development of TMJ disorder and excessive wear and tear on your teeth.
What’s the process of getting a crown or bridge?
First, Dr. Simic prepares your teeth by shaving off some enamel. If you’re getting a crown, she prepares the tooth that’s going to be crowned, while a bridge requires her to prepare the teeth adjacent to your missing tooth.
Once your teeth are prepared, she takes an impression of your smile. That impression is sent to a lab that fabricates your crown or bridge while you wear a temporary restoration.
When your permanent crown or bridge comes back from the lab, you come back to Smile Dental Studio Glenview for another appointment where Dr. Simic seals your crown or bridge in place and finishes restoring your smile.
To learn more about how Dr. Simic can improve your smile with a crown or bridge, call the office or book a visit online.