Butt Lane Dental Surgery

Crowns, Bridges and Implants

Dental implants

Each implant is essentially a metal screw made of titanium. Titanium is "biocompatible", meaning it is not rejected by the body and the metal will fuse with the surrounding living bone. If interested please ask the dentist about this type of treatment. We refer patients wanting implants to a specialist dentist for this complex treatment
For more information from The Oral health Foundation click HERE

Q. Can implants be used to replace missing teeth?
Implants are an alternative to dentures and bridges, but they are more expensive. Implants are titanium rods that work as anchors for fastening dentures or crowns onto.

Crowns

Q. What is a crown? When a tooth is badly broken or heavily filled, your dentist may need to crown or ‘cap' it to restore its appearance and strength.
Q. How does the dentist make a crown? Usually a crown involves shaping the tooth under local anaesthetic and then taking an impression. The impression is then sent to the laboratory along with the details of the shade to be used, and the technician makes the crown.
While your crown is being made, the prepared tooth can be protected with a temporary crown. This is easily removed just before fitting the permanent one. In most cases, the temporary crown is in place for about two weeks. Q. What is a crown made of?

Crowns can be made of a variety of different materials, such as porcelain or porcelain bonded to gold. New materials are continually being introduced. Please talk to our dental team about which crown would be best for you. For more information from The Oral health Foundation click HERE

Bridges

Q. How can I get rid of a gap? If a tooth is missing, or needs taking out, there are several ways to fill the gap that is left. In some cases it is important to try to replace missing teeth to balance the way your jaw bites. If you have several missing teeth, the remaining teeth are under more pressure. This can lead to broken fillings or even jaw problems.
A partial denture is the simplest way to replace missing teeth. However, some people find dentures uncomfortable and eventually decide to look at alternatives, such as bridges or implants.
Q. What is a bridge?

Bridges are ideal for people who don't like dentures and only have a few teeth missing. Bridges are usually made by putting a crown on the teeth on either side of the gap and attaching a false tooth in the middle.
The bridge can't be removed. These bridges are usually made of precious metal bonded to porcelain. Sometimes other non-precious metals are used in the base to give it extra strength. Quite often bridges are not available on the NHS but we can offer them privately. They are usually a lot cheaper than Implants.
For more information from The Oral health Foundation click HERE