A crown is a cap, cover or restoration used to replace the missing portion of a tooth.
The reasons for crowning a tooth may vary. A crown may be placed for aesthetic reasons, but the most common indication is a lack of remaining tooth structure. A broken down or heavily filled tooth can be crowned to protect the tooth from the heavy force exerted by chewing.
We work with a variety of materials: gold crowns, porcelain bonded to gold crowns as well as modern, metal free alternatives that give truly lifelike results.
With the latest advances in porcelain crowns, light can transmit through the crown so that the restoration work is indiscernible from your natural teeth. We no longer use a metal core, thus eliminating the unsightly grey lines of the older metal ceramic crowns.
A veneer is a thin layer of porcelain used to cover the front of a tooth. They are considered for several reasons such as when the enamel has become worn, chipped or discoloured or the teeth have become misaligned.
Veneers are extremely thin but once bonded to the tooth are unbelievably strong. They can block out undesirable colours, such as from a very dark underlying tooth, thus restoring your smile to a more natural, attractive one.
A bridge is a fixed or removable device that replaces missing or several missing teeth. A bridge is anchored to the teeth next to the gap, and can only be anchored to strong supporting teeth with good bone support. The teeth either side of the gap are prepared, crowns are placed over the prepared teeth and these are attached to the artificial tooth (also called a pontic).
Root canal treatment is the removal of the tooth’s pulp, a small, thread-like tissue in the centre of the tooth. Once the damaged, diseased or dead pulp is removed, the remaining space is cleaned, shaped and filled. This procedure seals off the root canal. Years ago, teeth with diseased or injured pulps were removed. Today, root canal treatment saves many teeth that would otherwise be lost.
