The Use Of Crowns At Our Bedford Practice
Porcelain crowns can be used in a number of restorative treatments.
Most of our patients will be familiar with dental crowns, and, indeed, some will have had them fitted as part of a procedure at The Dental Centre Bedford.
In today’s blog, we take a look at the various ways in which crowns are used to restore and strengthen a damaged or infected tooth and even replace one which is missing.
Broken tooth
Whether tooth decay has occurred, or part of a weakened tooth has broken off, the first option is to consider whether a dental filling will be sufficient to restore it. Where the decay or breakage is relatively minor, this may well be the case. For more severe damage though, a dental crown is often used to restore the tooth. The damaged tooth is first of all shaped and prepared and then scanned using our in-house CEREC technology which allows crowns to be produced in a single hour instead of a lengthy wait for an external laboratory. Once produced, whilst you wait, the crown is then attached to the tooth with a strong dental adhesive.
Root canal treatment
When the soft pulp in the roots of the tooth become infected, the only way to restore and retain the natural tooth is to perform a root canal procedure. This usually involves the removal of the top of the tooth so that the canals can be accessed; then removing the infected material, cleaning the canals thoroughly before filling them with a special material known as Gutta Percha. Whilst this restores the health of the tooth, it leaves it much weaker, and, in most cases, a porcelain crown will be fitted in order to restore both appearance and functionality to the root treated tooth.
Dental implants
The actual ‘implant’ is made from titanium and is placed into the jawbone to act, in effect, as a substitute tooth root. The visible part of a finalised dental implant placement though, is the dental crown which is attached to the implant via a support collar called an abutment. The crown will be prepared to match your natural teeth, both in shape and shade, and forms a very strong and stable tooth replacement.
The dental crowns we offer at our Bedford dental practice using CEREC technology, offer you the facility of same-day tooth restorations which is particularly useful for busy people who have limited time to attend the dentists. Some reports also indicate that CEREC restorations are actually stronger and longer lasting than those made in dental laboratories, which is an additional bonus.
If you have any questions about dental crowns or indeed any of the other treatments and services we offer at The Dental Centre Bedford, please don’t hesitate to contact our friendly team.