Crowns and Bridges

The team at Denzinger Family Dentistry provides restorative options, such as crowns and bridges, to return your beautiful smile to your face. After a thorough examination, we will discuss treatment options with you and help you decide your best path to take.

Crown – a crown is a single unit.

Bridge – a bridge is more than one crown together.

Pontic – a pontic is a prosthetic tooth that fills the gap where there is no tooth.

Crowns

Crowns permanently fit over an original tooth that has been damaged, cracked or decayed and are composed of such materials as porcelain, golf and acrylic resin. Bridges, on the other hand, fill the space that a tooth previously occupied. Spaces can cause other teeth to shift and lead to bite and jaw problems later.

Teeth, for a variety of reasons, break down and require permanent restorations. Sometimes these permanent restorations are used to replace teeth, and other times they are used to close gaps that may have existed for a lifetime.

All Crowns are not Created Equal

These days the crown you get from your dentist can come from a variety of sources. And you need to know the difference. Much of the crown and bridge done in the United States today by dentists is sent overseas or to offshore labs. The simple reason is that it costs dentists less to have these crowns made in Singapore or China, than to have them done locally.

Denzinger Family Dentistry uses only genuine WhiteRock™ crowns, made in New Albany, Indiana, by trained, skilled American workers.

The other thing you need to know about your crown and bridge work is that some are made of metal, and some are made of milled material that is durable, looks good, and works very well in the mouth.

Bridges

A bridge is a dental device that fills a space that a tooth previously occupied.

A bridge may be necessary to prevent:

  • Shifting of the teeth that can lead to bite problems (occlusion) and/or jaw problems and resultant periodontal disease.
  • Bridges safeguard the integrity of existing teeth and help maintain a healthy, vibrant smile.

There are two main types of bridges, namely:

  • Fixed bridge- this is the most popular and consists of a filler tooth that is attached to two crowns, which fit over the existing teeth and hold the bridge in place.
  • The Cantilever bridge is often used when there are teeth on only one side of the span. A typical three-unit cantilever bridge consists of two crowned teeth positioned next to each other on the same side of the missing tooth space. The filler tooth is then connected to the two crowned teeth, which extend into the missing tooth space or end.