“Being champion is all well and good, but you can’t eat a crown.”
– Althea Gibson, professional golfer and tennis player
We agree with Mrs. Gibson about what she said about crowns. However, you can eat with a crown — a dental crown.
At Sanders Family Dental, we have found the dental crowns are one of the most useful services that we offer since the they have many restorative purposes.
Today, we will be discussing what crowns can do, along with dental bridges and dental implants. You may find that you or someone close to you could benefit from one of these services.
If so, please contact our dentist office in Mansfield, TX, to learn more about how to get them.
★ Dental Crowns
We need to start with some basic tooth anatomy. Your teeth are divided into two major sections: crowns and roots.
Crowns are the visible part of your teeth. These are the part of your teeth that stick out of your gums. The roots are the part below the gumline. They serve as anchors since they are that part of your teeth that are connected to your jawbone.
A dental crown is meant to replace a natural crown that has become damaged, decayed, or discolored.
Teeth can be damaged in a number of ways. You may lose part of a tooth if you get hit in the mouth or you fall and injure your face. Even biting into something hard — like a piece of candy or ice — can cause a tooth to chip or crack.
Bad habits, such as biting your nails, can cause your teeth to become worn down, too.
Of course, cavities are a concern, too. If you ignore your oral hygiene or eat too many sugary snacks, you can develop tooth decay that can eat away at your teeth.
It’s also possible for individual teeth to become discolored. This can draw the wrong kind of attention to your smile.
By reshaping your tooth, we can remove the damaged, decayed, or discolored areas. This creates room to bond a dental crown in place.
Our crowns are made of materials that look like real teeth. Just as important, they are strong enough to withstand the daily rigors of being a tooth, which means you can continue to eat with your dental crown, too.
★ Dental Bridges
Dental bridges are a solution to replace missing teeth.
Traditional bridges are created by following a process similar to what we do to make a dental crown. There’s a good reason for that. Dental bridges are made of multiple dental crowns.
To get a dental bridge, we start by reshaping the two teeth on each side of the gap in your smile. By reforming these teeth, we have two points of attachment for your dental bridge.
When your bridge is ready, the abutment crowns (on each end) are bonded to the teeth that were reshaped. The crowns in the middle of the bridge, which are called pontics) fill in space previously occupied by your teeth.
Bridges are made of the same materials as crowns. This means they will give you a natural-looking smile and restore the function you had before you lost your teeth.
★ Dental Implants
Dental implants can be used in conjunction with dental crowns or dental bridges.
Dental crowns and bridges are made to replace natural crowns. Implants replace the roots of your missing teeth.
This adds another level of stability and strength to your teeth replacements. Implants are titanium cylinders. When these are placed into your jaw, the bone grows around and bonds to the implants.
Each implant has an abutment on the exposed end where we can attack a crown or a bridge.
A dental implant and a dental crown are one of the most effective ways to replace a single tooth. A dental implant can be supported by a single implant or a few implants depending on how many teeth need to be replaced.
You can even use a series of dental implants to support a set of dentures. These implant-supported dentures are so strong and secure that they function nearly as well as natural teeth.
Time To Restore Your Smile
No matter that has happened to your teeth or how many teeth you are missing, Sanders Family Dental has ways to help. Dental crowns, bridges, and implants give us valuable tools to remake smiles as good as they once were.
To find out if these could work for you, come by our dentist office in Mansfield, TX, for a consultation. Call 817-779-7111 or use our online form to make your appointment.