A crown (also known as a cap) is an artificial cover that fits over a specially prepared natural tooth. Crowns can restore teeth to their normal appearance and function. Crowns are custom made by dental technicians to fit onto the teeth prepared by your dentist. A crown might be needed if a tooth has been so badly damaged by decay or fracture that it becomes impossible to restore with ordinary filling materials.
Crowns can also be done for cosmetic reasons. Crowns can replace large and unsightly fillings. Crowns also provide a way of improving the appearance of crooked, discoloured or misshapen teeth.
Grey Tooth
Replaced by Crown
Bridges
Crowns can be made from different materials, dependent on the patient’s individual situation:
- Porcelain. It looks very lifelike and is most often used for front teeth. Porcelain is bonded onto zirconium or a glass-like substructure that allows light reflection that is very similar to natural tooth structure.
- Porcelain bonded to metal. It combines the appearance of porcelain with a metal substructure that is more resistant to fracture.
- Gold. Strong and hard wearing. Gold is still one of the longer lasting materials but it is less used due to its unnatural colour.
- Plastic. It is used for temporary and semi-permanent crowns.
- Glass/Metal-free. These crowns are very lifelike and relatively strong.
- Post crowns. These are normal crowns that are connected to the natural roots of a tooth by means of a metal post. This is sometimes the only option when there is almost no natural tooth structure left. The metal post is inserted into the root of the tooth, so the tooth will usually need a root canal treatment first.
Crowns are strong restorations, but they are attached to your natural tooth structure which can still decay or fracture. People who clench or grind their teeth might also find that the porcelain could chip or fracture sooner.
A bridge consists of false teeth (pontics) which are fixed to existing teeth (anchors) to fill the gap. The anchor teeth are drilled and shaped to prep them for crowns. A bridge is a row of attached crowns. Some of them will be attached to teeth (anchors) and some will fill the gaps (pontics). They will look and work like natural teeth.
Missing teeth should be replaced for appearance, to help you eat, to prevent the remaining teeth moving into unhealthy positions or a combination of all these factors. Other options for replacing teeth could be partial dentures or implants.