Restoring and protecting the teeth with crowns and bridges
TonSOURIRE is a comprehensive dental care centre that treats every member of your family, including young children. Our ultimate goal is to ensure all of our patients enjoy excellent oral health.
We believe the success of our prevention programs lies in the collaboration between our patients and the entire dental team. Furthermore, preventing oral diseases ultimately begins at home with proper daily hygiene followed up by regular examinations, cleanings and x-rays at the dentist.
What is a crown?
A crown is a permanent dental prosthesis that protects a tooth, whether that tooth is dead or not. This tooth-shaped cap is placed over the visible part of the tooth that lies above the gum line. A crown protects the tooth from further damage, thereby eliminating the need to extract it. Crowns may be required after root canal treatment, large fillings, broken or discoloured teeth and malformed teeth.
Dental crowns can be made of various substances, such as metal, porcelain, a ceramo-metallic alloy or zirconium. All are durable and last about 15 years when properly cared for. As a crown is really a prosthetic tooth, it’s very important to practice good oral hygiene by brushing and flossing as with your regular teeth.
Bridges
When a tooth goes missing, it’s vital to replace it with an artificial tooth as soon as possible. Doing so ensures that the remaining teeth will not become misaligned, thereby causing other complications.
What is a bridge?
The bridge (also known as a fixed bridge or fixed partial prosthesis), literally bridges the gap left behind by a missing tooth. If the adjacent teeth are healthy, crowns are placed over them and a false tooth is then set in between. Should the adjacent teeth not be strong enough to support the bridge, you may be offered a dental implant. An implant is an artificial root inserted into the jawbone to replace a natural tooth.
What is the procedure?
On your first appointment, the dentist will prepare the teeth on the opposite sides of your missing tooth to receive crowns. The missing tooth, along with the two crowns, will be custom-made in the laboratory. When completed, it will be one single piece. In the meantime, a temporary bridge will be set in place.
During your second appointment, the new bridge will be fit and permanently cemented to the two adjacent, healthy teeth. You can expect your new bridge to last for about 15 years, provided you take good care of it. Your dentist will show you how to thread a special floss around the artificial tooth in the centre of your bridge.
Depending on your private insurance, your bridge may or may not be covered. Unfortunately, bridges and crowns are not reimbursed by Quebec healthcare.
