CROWN
Crowns are made to restore the function and aesthetics of damaged from decay or trauma teeth. It is highly recommended to put crowns over heavily filled teeth or teeth that underwent root canal treatment, because they become more brittle. Crowns are placed over the tooth and cover all its surfaces. They could be made of porcelain bonded to metal or zirconium or only from porcelain. The procedure takes two stages. In the first the tooth is drilled and impression is taken and in the second the crown is cemented. For the time between the two stages (dental lab usually needs about a week) temporary crown could be placed.
BRIDGE
The bridge is a prosthetic construction used to restore a missing tooth (close the gap). In order to make a bridge there should be relatively healthy teeth on both sides of the missing one. To the teeth adjacent to the gap crowns that support the bridge are cemented (these teeth are drilled). As an alternative, the missing tooth or teeth could be restored with implants. In this way the destruction of hard dental tissue of the adjacent teeth is prevented. The clinical stages and the materials used for bridges are the same as the ones for crowns.
PARTIAL DENTURE
A removable partial denture usually consists of replacement teeth attached to a pink or gum-colored plastic or silicon base, which is sometimes connected by metal framework. Partial dentures use metal or plastic clasps or other precision attachments to hold the denture in place in the mouth. Partial dentures are used when there is only one or few natural teeth left in the upper or lower jaw and bridges cannot be used to restore the missing teeth. In most cases implants could be used to avoid the need of removable denture. Dentures are made in at least two and more often three clinical stages.
COMPLETE DENTURES
Complete dentures replace all teeth of the jaw. Therefore they cannot rely on clasps or any other elements to hold them in place. Patients could experience significant discomfort from movement of the dentures during function especially with the lower one. That is why we strongly advise patients who had lost all natural teeth to consider placing four or at least two implants (when the individual case allow it) to help holding the denture in place.
