Crowns / Bridges

Introduction

Bridgewater Dental Centre offers clients affordable dental care by replacing missing teeth or restoring damaged teeth with dental crowns and tooth bridges. A dental crown restores an individual tooth back to its original form and function, while a tooth bridge replaces one or more missing teeth. You will be excited to know that our dentists create long lasting, durable porcelain dental crowns and tooth bridges that look natural and are virtually undetectable. We offer dental crowns to restore both front and back teeth. We offer tooth bridges to replace a single, missing tooth or multiple, missing teeth.

What are Dental Crowns?

Dental crowns are used to rebuild and protect teeth which have been broken, weakened by large cavities, or teeth with a root canal.

During your first visit, one of our wonderful dentists will prepare your tooth structure for the dental crown and then take an impression of the tooth. From there, the dentist will make a temporary crown to place on the tooth and send the impression to a dental laboratory to fabricate the dental crown. At your next visit, we will try-in the dental crown to ensure a good fit and then cement in place. Dental crown restorations are made in a lab from fine porcelain, will blend seamlessly with your teeth, return the strength that you need for comfortable oral function, and maintain your all-white smile.

What are Tooth Bridges?

A dental tooth bridge is a non-removable solution used to replace one or more missing teeth.

A tooth bridge is composed of abutments and pontics. Abutments are the supports for the dental bridge and consist of tooth crowns placed on the teeth on either side of the empty space. The pontics are special tooth crowns that span across the empty space and connect to the abutments. When teeth are prepared for a tooth bridge, the abutments are prepared for dental crowns just as described above for dental crowns. Our dentist will then take an impression of the prepared teeth, make a temporary dental bridge to place on the teeth to protect them and send the impression to a dental laboratory to fabricate the bridge. At your next visit, we will try-in the tooth bridge to ensure a good fit and then cement in place.

Lasting Results

Dental crowns and tooth bridges are highly durable and will last many years, however they may need to be replaced over time. As with all dental procedures, proper home care and regular dental cleaning visits will help prolong the life of your new dental crown or tooth bridge.

CEREC Same Day Crowns

CEREC® utilizes digital 3D imaging and a milling machine to create custom porcelain crowns, inlays and onlays, and bridges for reconstructive and cosmetic dentistry procedures.

Instead of waiting for up to two weeks for your restoration to be produced, our dentists can place your custom porcelain restoration in just one-visit.

CEREC® stands for Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics and the first CEREC® patients received service in 1985. CEREC® is a brand name owned by Sirona, a new company that formed after Siemens sold its dental division.

Aside from saving time for the patient and dentist, the digital impressions created by CEREC® are generally regarded as more comfortable for patients than traditional impressions. According to a study by G. V. Arnetzl, G. Arnetzl in 2006, the ten-year success rate of CEREC® inlays was significantly longer than traditional gold and ceramic inlays. The nine-year success rate of CEREC® restorations is 95.5% and 84% after 18 years.

Steps in the CEREC® Process