Restore Your Smile
with a Dental Crown & Bridge in Kamloops

Crowns

A crown is sometimes referred to as a “cap” and can be used to improve esthetics AND function. When a tooth is missing a significant amount of natural structure, either due to a large filling, a crack or a fracture, a dental crown is indicated. A crown is “like a thimble” that covers the entire 360 degrees of a tooth and acts to splint and protect the tooth from the outside.

There are 3 types of crowns:

1. A full-gold crown: Although these are the least esthetic types of crowns, they are still a great option in non-esthetic regions of the mouth.
2. A porcelain-fused-to-metal crown: This is a crown which has a metal substructure with a porcelain layer baked over the metal. These are slightly more aesthetically pleasing than a full-gold crown but still have esthetic limitations. You may have seen someone with a “cap” on a front tooth that looks grey along the gum line. This is the metal showing through the porcelain on these types of crowns. They also tend to be quite opaque in appearance and lack the translucency and light-reflecting qualities of natural tooth structure.
3. Full ceramic crown: This is a metal-free crown and with the advances in today’s ceramics it is a very esthetic and durable option. The ceramics of today allow us to replicate the beautiful translucency and light-reflecting qualities present in natural tooth structure and to do so with minimal removal of tooth structure.

Crowns may be placed on a natural tooth or on a dental implant.

Bridges

A bridge is used to replace a missing tooth or teeth. A bridge is essentially multiple crowns joined together with a “floating crown”, or pontic, in the space of the missing tooth. It is a “fixed” prosthesis, meaning that once the bridge is in place it is not removed. In order to place a bridge, the teeth on either side of the space need to be prepped down for the crowns/bridge abutments. If the teeth on either side of the space would benefit from crowns anyway (ie. They have large restorations or cracks), then a bridge is a good option for replacing the missing tooth. However, if the teeth on either side of the space are “virgin” teeth (ie. They have no restorations or structural compromises), then a dental bridge in Kamloops may not be the best option, as a significant amount of good tooth structure would have to be sacrificed in order to place the bridge. In this case, a dental implant would be the preferable mode of replacing the missing tooth or teeth.

We are accepting new patients, so be sure to schedule a consultation regarding your crown and bridge—call Aberdeen Dental Arts today!