A damaged tooth is not automatically a lost one.
If the roots and the interior are still healthy, the tooth is worth saving. It may just need a new exterior.
Reinforce the tooth before you replace it.
A damaged or decayed tooth makes ordinary things unpleasant — eating, sometimes speaking. Chips and cracks make confident people self-conscious. The instinct is to have it out and be done with it.
That is usually the wrong instinct. Extraction starts a second problem: the bone that held the root begins to resorb, the neighboring teeth drift into the gap, and the bite changes. A tooth kept is a problem that stops there.
So the first question is not which restoration you want. It is whether the interior is still sound — and if it is, a crown gives the tooth a new exterior and the matter is closed.
Repair a damaged tooth.
A crown is a fixed cap that covers the tooth to restore strength and appearance. It is what gets recommended when a tooth is too far gone for bonding or a composite filling — and it is also how a tooth is protected after root canal therapy, and how a finished implant is topped.
- Restore strength to a damaged tooth
- Improve tooth size, shape and color
- Repair a tooth after severe decay
- Preserve a tooth after a root canal
- Restore a dental implant
Impressions are taken here, the restoration is designed in the in-house lab, and the fit and the color are both verified against the teeth on either side before it is seated. Cared for properly, a crown generally lasts fifteen years or more.
Replace a missing tooth.
If a tooth is already gone and you are not ready to commit to an implant, a bridge is the next best option: a run of crowns fused together, spanning the gap and anchored to the teeth on either side.
- Restore function and appearance after tooth loss
- Improve the health of the whole mouth
- Eliminate gaps in the smile
- Keep the remaining teeth from shifting
- Long-term strength and stability
A bridge can also be anchored to implants rather than to natural teeth, which avoids reshaping two healthy neighbors to carry it. In a prosthodontic practice that is a live choice rather than a referral, and it is worth asking about before you decide.
What decides the number.
Two questions come before any other when people call: do you take my insurance, and what will this cost. The first is straightforward — the practice partners with multiple leading insurance providers, and the front desk will check yours before you come in.
The second has no honest single answer, because it turns on two things:
- How many teeth are being treated
- Which material you choose
Both are settled at a consultation, in writing, alongside financing options if you want the cost spread into monthly payments. Nobody should be compromising their health over the budget when the budget has not even been worked out yet.
Where to go next.
Save your smile.
Bring the tooth in before it decides for you. If it can be kept, it will be.