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Crown care
To prevent damaging or fracturing the
crowns, avoid chewing hard foods, ice or other hard objects
- just like you should avoid for your natural teeth. You
also want to avoid teeth grinding. Besides visiting your
dentist and brushing twice a day, cleaning between your
teeth is vital with crowns. Floss or interdental cleaners
(specially shaped brushes and sticks) are important tools to
remove plaque from the crown area where the gum meets the
tooth.
Plaque in that area can cause dental decay and gum disease.
MORE ABOUT TOOTH REPLACEMENT WITH
DENTAL BRIDGE
How do Bridges Work?
A bridge may be recommended if you're
missing one or more teeth. If you are missing one or more
teeth, the gap in your smile can cause many other problems,
including additional decay, sensitivity, tooth drift, gum
disease, and a change in your bite. . Gaps left by missing
teeth eventually cause the remaining teeth to rotate or
shift into the empty spaces, resulting in a bad bite. The
imbalance caused by missing teeth can also lead to gum
disease and in many cases, too, a missing tooth can cause
the temporomandibular joint, or TMJ, to become misaligned, a
condition referred to as TMD.
A bridge is a restoration designed to
fill the gap caused by a missing tooth and prevent
additional dental problems. Bridges are cemented to the
natural teeth or implants surrounding the empty space. These
teeth, called abutments, serve as anchors for the bridge. A
replacement tooth, called a pontic, is attached to the
crowns that cover the abutments. As with crowns, you have a
choice of materials for bridges, based on the location of
the missing tooth (or teeth), its function, aesthetic
considerations and cost. Porcelain or ceramic bridges can be
matched to the color of your natural teeth.
ARE FIXED
BRIDGES NECESSARY?
Many people who
lose one or more back teeth are often inclined to do nothing
to replace them. Unfortunately, losing a tooth can start a
vicious cycle of destruction. In a normal, healthy mouth,
your teeth have a natural balance. Each upper tooth contacts
the corresponding lower tooth, allowing for a well-balanced
chewing function. Losing a tooth quickly destroys this
balance.A functional mouth has 28 teeth (14 upper and 14
lower - excluding wisdom teeth). They work as a team. Each
tooth has three companion teeth: the two adjacent teeth and
the opposing tooth. These companion teeth provide support
and stability. Drifting, shifting, periodontal disease, and
abnormal decay areas are some of the problems that can occur
when your tooth loses the support of a companion. The
adjacent teeth shift inward toward the missing space. This
causes open spaces between the adjacent teeth and their
companion. The opposing tooth will drift down into the space
left behind by the missing tooth. This causes interferences
which will affect eating and talking. As the opposing tooth
drifts out of its socket, the bone support is lost and the
tooth will inevitably be lost as well. This cycle is a
domino effect which will lead to the loss of many otherwise
healthy and vital teeth. In the picture below, a lower molar
has been lost. Its neighbours and biting partners are
jeopardized. This is what happens:
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The opposing molar will
super-erupt.
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The unprotected ridge is
subject to trauma.
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The neighbor teeth tilt,
destroying proper functional balance.
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Shifting teeth create
spaces which food will become trapped and
lead to decay and periodontal disease.
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Bone is destroyed as
teeth drift and tip.
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WHAT WILL A
FIXED BRIDGE DO?
A fixed bridge
will accomplish the following:
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Replace
missing teeth.
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Help
balance and restore a normal bite.
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Help
prevent unnatural stress on the dental ridge.
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Prevent
over-eruption of opposing teeth.
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Prevent
shift and tilt of adjacent teeth.
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Help
prevent formation of decay in abnormal areas.
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Help retard
the onset of periodontal disease.
Procedure
in Making Dental Bridge
We prepare your
teeth on either side of the space for the false tooth. Teeth
on either side of the space are prepared to accommodate for
the thickness of the crown. We will then make an impression,
which will serve as the model from which the dental
laboratory will be make the bridge (false tooth and crowns).
A temporary bridge will be placed for you to wear while your
bridge is being made until your next visit. This temporary
bridge will serve to protect your teeth and gums. On your
second appointment, the temporary bridge will be removed.
Your new permanent bridge will be fitted and checked and
adjusted for any bite discrepancies. Your new bridge will
then be cemented to your teeth.
There are
three types of dental bridges:
1. Traditional
Fixed Bridge -- Fixed bridges cannot be taken out of your
mouth as you might do with removable partial dentures. A
fixed dental bridge has a false tooth, known as a pontic,
which is fused between two porcelain crowns to fill the area
left by a missing tooth. These two crowns are held in place
because they are attached onto your teeth on each side of
the false tooth. This procedure is used to replace one or
more missing teeth. Bridges can reduce your risk of gum
disease, help correct some bite issues and even improve your
speech. Bridges require your commitment to serious oral
hygiene, but can last as many ten years or more.
2. Resin Bonded
Bridges -- The resin bonded is primarily used for your front
teeth. Less expensive, this bridge is best used when the
abutment teeth are healthy and don't have large fillings.
The false tooth is fused to metal bands that are bonded to
the abutment teeth with a resin, which is hidden from view.
This type of bridge reduces the amount of preparation on the
adjacent teeth. Resin bonded or "Maryland" bridge, primarily
used for the front teeth.
3. Cantilever
Bridges -- In areas of your mouth that are under less
stress, such as your front teeth, a cantilever bridge may be
used. Cantilever bridges are used when there are teeth on
only one side of the open space. This procedure involves
anchoring the false tooth to one side over one or more
natural and adjacent teeth.
Clasps and metal
If you are an appropriate candidate, a porcelain bridge can
look as natural as (or in many cases better than) your own
teeth, in color and shape, in proportion and alignment, with
no clasps or metal appearance. Some bridges are designed
with a metal support structure or a metal lining, covered
with porcelain (porcelain-fused-to-metal or PFM). At one
point in time, most restorations were made this way. When
placed, they usually can often look opaque or "flat" because
they do not let light pass through like a natural tooth.
There can also be a tell-tale dark band showing through the
teeth or showing next to the gum-line that is undesirable
(often the darkness invades the adjacent gum tissue as an
adverse reaction). All-porcelain bridge restorations are
what we chose to use unless there is a compelling reason
otherwise. Again, when properly seated, they are virtually
as strong or stronger than their metal predecessor. And the
appearance can be identical to a natural tooth, allowing
light to pass through (referred to as translucency).
Alternative
tooth replacement options
The two primary
tooth replacement options in addition to bridges include:
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Dental
implants-A permanent, full tooth replacement option,
dental implants provide the most complete and natural
looking solution for tooth replacement.
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Full or
partial dentures-Dentures, either full or partial, offer
a minimally invasive tooth replacement option for the
visible or upper portion of the tooth. Unlike dental
bridges, dentures are removable.
Caring For
Your Dental Bridge
A dental bridge
depends on the health of the adjacent teeth and gums for
support. To care for your bridge, brush and floss normally
after each meal.
Superfloss and
floss threaders are effective tools for keeping the area
under your bridge plaque-free. Superfloss has a stiff end
that helps in threading it through tight areas and a fuzzy
tufted segment that can remove plaque as you floss. Insert
the superfloss under the bridge and use it to floss the
sides of the teeth and under the bridge. Floss threaders
also aid in removing plaque. Pull out about 18 inches of
floss, insert it through the floss threader, and then use
the threader to insert the floss under your bridge. Floss to
remove food particles and plaque from the sides of the teeth
and under the bridge. Use the same procedure to care for
your temporary bridge, being careful not to dislodge it as
you brush and floss. If it does come loose, gently re-attach
it; call your dentist if your temporary bridge frequently
comes loose.
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To
prepare the tooth
