Crowns & bridges

A crown is a hollow ‘cap’ that is fixed over a tooth. A crown helps to restore your tooths function, strength and appearance.
 

A crown may be used when a tooth has been badly broken, heavily restored therefore more susceptible to fracture, very stained and unattractive looking teeth, and root canal treated teeth.
 

Crowns are usually made of tooth coloured porcelain and are colour matched to your natural teeth to maintain a beautiful smile.
 

The treatment can be completed in as little as two appointments.  The first appointment involves a painless preparation of your tooth so that the result appears the same size as the surrounding teeth. This gives a natural looking appearance. In some cases your tooth may need to be restored first with a core material to strengthen the inside of the tooth.  Once the underlying tooth is prepared, we take an impression of your teeth so your new crown can be hand crafted by our ceramist.
 

After the tooth has been prepared and necessary records are taken, we construct a temporary tooth coloured crown to help protect your prepared tooth until your next visit two weeks later.  At this visit we remove the temporary crown and fit your permanent porcelain crown and with your help make sure that the fit and appearance are right for your mouth.
 

It is vital to treat your new crown as you would your own teeth and maintain your oral hygiene with brushing, flossing and attending your 6 monthly preventative care appointments.

 

A bridge may be recommended if you’re missing one or more teeth. Gaps left by missing teeth eventually cause the adjacent teeth to drift or over grow into the empty space resulting in a bad bite.

 

Bridges span the space where there are missing teeth. They are cemented to natural teeth or implants surrounding the empty space. These teeth serve as anchors for the bridge. The replacement tooth is a false tooth called a ‘pontic’ that is attached to the crowns that cover the abutments.

 

Before the bridge can be made the adjacent teeth are prepared in the same way a tooth is prepared for a crown. Each of the teeth that are to be used as a support are anaesthetised and then reduced to fit your new bridge. Once the underlying teeth are prepared we take an impression and other records so the bridge can be made by our ceramist.

 

We construct a temporary tooth coloured bridge to provide protection to the prepared teeth until your next appointment.

 

At this next visit we remove your temporary bridge  and fit your permanent porcelain bridge, making sure that the fit and appearance are right for your mouth.

 

It is vital to treat your new bridge as you would your own teeth and maintain your oral hygiene with brushing, flossing and attending your regular 6 monthly professional cleaning appointments.