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These are a selection of some common questions that patients have. If your question isn't answered here, please contact our office. It's important to us that our patients understand their dental care.
Crowns & Bridges
This is a very nuanced question and will depend on each person’s dental situation. Implants have made bridges less commonly done, however we still do bridges in some situations. A bridge may be a better value if the adjacent teeth are already in need of crowns. It may also be done if the patient is not a good candidate for an implant.
No, some people get this confused with the common recommendation that every root canal should have a crown done after. Most crowns do not need a root canal after however.
A bridge is made to replace a missing tooth. It is made of a crown on each of the adjacent teeth and a fake tooth in the middle, which are all connected as one piece. It is then cemented on the adjacent teeth. Bridges are made of the same materials as crowns.
A crown is a protective cap that covers the entire tooth. It can be made of porcelain, gold, porcelain over gold, or a newer material called zirconia.
A crown may be needed if a tooth is broken, lost a filling, has cracks, has a large cavity, or some combination of these problems.
Implants have a very distinct advantage of being easier to clean since you can floss between all teeth still. A bridge requires you to thread floss under the fake tooth, which some people find difficult. Another significant advantage is that you do not need to crown the adjacent teeth. When a bridge fails it is at minimum a 3 tooth problem. Sometimes when the bridge fails one of the teeth supporting it must be pulled. An implant and two adjacent teeth keeps your teeth (and potential problems) separate.