Smile Studio – Crowns and Bridges

CROWNS are placed when the tooth is weak or when a portion has fractured or decayed and the remainder of the tooth is not sufficient to support function. If you have had a root canal treatment the tooth may become brittle so a crown is often recommended to prevent fracture. The process requires a lot of detailed work to remove a small amount of the tooth in all dimensions to make enough space to place a complete coverage, thimble-like crown.

BRIDGES are placed when one or more teeth are missing. Modern dentistry now replaces missing teeth with dental implants (see our Implants page elsewhere on this website) but if this is not possible, a bridge is placed by crowning the teeth on either side and suspending one or more “dummy teeth” between them.

OVERLAYS are placed if there has been fracture or decay but there is still a good portion of healthy tooth structure. It would not be necessary to remove healthy tooth and cover it entirely with a crown, so the overlay “wraps over” the deficient edges and protects the tooth from fracture.