Crown and Bridges
Crowns and Bridges are fixed prosthesis. They are cemented onto existing teeth or implants, and can only be removed by a dentist.
Crowns
A Crown is a tooth-shaped cap that is placed over a damaged tooth (like a helmet on the head). Sometimes tooth becomes so severely damaged due to reasons like decay, cracked teeth or trauma that the area is too large to restore with a traditional filling. When your teeth are severely damaged or root canal treated, nutrition and strength of the teeth are compromised. Therefore crowns are necessary as it fully encases the entire visible portion of a tooth that lies at and above the gum line.
The goal of providing a crown to your damaged teeth is to bring back your natural smile and prevent further damage.
Bridges
Bridges are commonly used to replace one or more missing teeth.
They are nothing but two or more crowns joined together to replace a missing tooth. Missing tooth is replaced by a crown by taking the support of adjacent teeth crowns.
Many varieties of crowns are now available. They include
- Metal Crowns
- PFM (Porcelain Fused Metal) crowns
- Metal-free Crowns
Metal Crowns
These are old-fashioned crowns made of nickel-chromium or chromium-cobalt alloys. they are metal coloured, so their use in front teeth is restricted. The colour shows off each time you open your mouth.
Advantages
– Cost-effective
– Offers good strength
Disadvantages
– May cause allergic reactions
– Highly unaesthetic.
Ceramic Crowns (PFM)
Ceramic crowns are superior to metal crowns as it can be used in anterior as well as posterior teeth. It has limitations when used in front teeth as it might show off metal (metal reflection). The crown’s porcelain portion can also chip or break off. However, sometimes the metal underlying the crown’s porcelain can show through as a dark line, especially at the gum line and even more so if your gums recede.
Advantages
– Offers good strength
– Esthetic
– Cost-effective
Disadvantages
– May cause allergic reactions
– Has difficulty in colour matching.
Zirconia Crowns (Metal-Free Crown)
Zirconia Crowns are the best-quality crowns available and they come with a warranty. These crowns are much better when compared to ceramic and metal crowns in their strength and esthetics. These crowns can be used both in anterior and posterior teeth (front and back teeth) as it does not contain any metal in them. Thus perfect colour matching is possible with Zirconia Crowns. The main advantage of this variety of crown is it does not cause any allergic reaction or gingival irritation.