Crowns and Bridges

Many people dealing with damaged or missing teeth turn to crowns and bridges to restore their smiles and improve their oral health. In fact, these are two of the most common dental restorations that our Nashua, NH, dentist Dr. Farshad Pezeshki places in patients. Are you wondering when crowns and bridges are used? Learn more about these popular restorations and their benefits.

What are crowns?

Crowns are hollow dental caps that are made to resemble the crown of a tooth. They are often made from tooth-colored material like porcelain or ceramic, and are designed to cover a damaged tooth and to become its new outer layer. A crown is then cemented into place where it is strong enough to last several years before needing to be replaced.

What are the benefits of crowns?

A damaged tooth is also weak, which makes it prone to further damage. Therefore, the best way to improve the durability and longevity of a tooth is to place a dental crown. Teeth that have had to undergo root canal treatment can also benefit from getting a dental crown.

While crowns are usually used to strengthen a tooth a crown can also provide cosmetic benefits, as well. A crown can cover a misshapen, malformed, or severely discolored tooth and improve its color, shape and size.

Crowns are made from strong, highest-quality materials, which mean that they could last up to 15 years as long as you properly care for your restoration and maintain good oral health.

What are bridges?

A dental bridge is an oral prosthetic that is designed to fill gaps in your smile caused by tooth loss with natural-looking false teeth. In order to do this, our Nashua, NH, cosmetic dentist will need to place dental crowns over healthy natural teeth. Once the crowns are cemented into place then the false teeth are cemented to the crowns to fill the gap.

What are the benefits of bridges?

One of the complications associated with untreated tooth loss is the shifting of teeth into open gaps in your smile, which can lead to crooked teeth and other misalignments that only orthodontic treatment will be able to correct. To prevent this from happening altogether, it’s important to have a bridge or false tooth placed as soon as possible after losing a permanent tooth.

When you lose one or more teeth you may notice that your bite may feel off. Unfortunately, this also means that some teeth have to handle more jaw pressure and chewing forces then is actually safe. Over time this can lead to fractures, cracks, and chips. By placing a dental bridge we can evenly distribute chewing forces to prevent injury.

We know that having gaps in your smile can be embarrassing. Luckily, a dental bridge can be placed in as little as two appointments, which means that you can have a full, beautiful smile again quickly.

Pearl Dental Associates in Nashua, NH, wants to make sure that patients of all ages get the proper dental care they need, no matter whether they are dealing with dental injuries or they just want to schedule a routine cleaning. Call your dentist today to let us know how we can help.