Broken, worn down, and missing teeth also present you with a problem. Will you fix them or replace them? If so, how will you do it?
Maybe just as important is who will you trust to do this for you?
Our team at Davenport Dental Group has decades of experience in restorative dentistry, and we would be glad to put our knowledge to work to help you or someone you love.
Today we will be discussing dental crowns and bridges, which are among the many services we offer at our dentist office in Laredo, TX.
Why You May Want A Dental Crown
Dental crowns are an excellent option for any patient who has a tooth that has been damaged for any reason. The best way to explain how a dental crown could help you is to describe some of the ways we have used them to help our patients.
➤ Fixing A Broken Tooth
In high school, you and your friends were unbeatable on the football field. (At least, that’s you remember it.) That’s also why you didn’t think getting together for a game on the weekend would be a big deal.
Well … in the course of that game you landed funny after a tackle and broke one of your teeth. To correct this situation and restore your smile, we would start by removing some of what was left of your tooth.
By forming an abutment with what is left of your tooth, we create a support for your dental crowns. Our crowns are made with durable materials that look and feel like real teeth.
When your crown is bonded in place, your smile will look the same, and you will still be able to eat the foods that you want. (If you do decide to play football again, however, we recommend wearing an athletic mouthguard during the game.)
➤ Repairing A Decayed Tooth
It would be wonderful if no one ever got a cavity, but that’s not reality. If you come to us for routine cleanings and examinations, we may spot the tooth decay early enough that you will only need a filling to repair the damage.
If the cavity grows too large, however, a filling may not be enough. This is when we would recommend a dental crown.
The process is similar to what we described with the broken tooth above. We would reshape your tooth, and we would remove the decayed portions of your tooth in that process. When your dental crown is ready, we will bond it to the abutment and your smile will be as good as new.
➤ Making A Cosmetic Improvement
You may want this for a few different reasons. One of them may be if one of your teeth is visibly darker than the teeth around it. This may happen for a variety of reasons, but a dental crown can be created that closely matches the color of your other teeth.
Sometimes people have misshapen teeth as well. That difference can make your smile distracting instead of welcoming to others. By reshaping your tooth, we can create a dental crown so it will blend in with the rest of your smile.
Why You May Want A Dental Bridge
Dental bridges are designed to close gaps. These gaps just happen to be in your mouth.
To put it mildly, missing teeth can have a detrimental effect on your smile and your ability to eat foods that you enjoy. A dental bridge can restore your smile and your eating ability.
A dental bridge is made of a group of dental crowns. A traditional bridge is made with two more crowns than you have missing teeth.
The crowns on each end are known as abutment crowns. To place a traditional crown, we would reshape the teeth on either side of your gap like we would for a dental crown. Those teeth would provide the support that holds the bridge in place.
A stronger option might be an implant-supported bridge. With this kind of bridge, we would place one or more dental implants in your jaw. The implants support the bridge. As a result, we would not have to reshape any of your healthy teeth.
Missing Something From Your Smile?
You can get it back with a dental crown or dental bridge from Davenport Dental Group. Just call our dentists  or use our online form to make an appointment if you live in or near Laredo, TX.