Crowns
When the tooth structure has become weakened with decay or an existing filling is very large and deteriorated, a dental crown may be necessary to protect the tooth.
A crown is a tooth-shaped cap that is placed over a tooth. It is used to strengthen and protect your tooth structure. Your Sparkle dentist prepares the tooth, takes an impression and the crown is made in a lab by a specialist.
Bridges
When considering replacing missing teeth, there are a number of options available. This includes dentures, dental implants and dental bridges. A dental bridge is a tooth shaped fixed dental appliance which connects the teeth either side of the missing tooth / teeth.
A bridge has a crown on each end as an anchor with an artificial tooth or teeth connecting the crowns and filling the space. A bridge can keep your other teeth from moving out of place. Once a bridge is placed, it works just like your natural teeth.
Inlays and Onlays
In dentistry, inlays and onlays are a form of indirect restoration, they are made in a dental laboratory and based on a model of your teeth. They are then placed in the mouth and attached into the area that requires repair and attached to the tooth with highly specialised dental adhesive. Inlays sit inside the tooth acting to effectively fill the hole that has been prepared after decay removal. On the other hand, onlays fill the hole but also sit on top of the surface of teeth recreating some of their shape and providing extra strength to the tooth where the damage is more extensive.
Dentures
Dentures are a removable dental appliance which function to replace missing teeth and supporting soft tissues. They can be made to replace single, multiple or all remaining teeth and are fabricated from a variety of materials such as high impact acrylic, cobalt and chrome. Dentures still have many benefits and are a very useful alternative especially in cases where implants and bridges may not be possible.
Dentures are completely reversible and do not require adjustment or reliance on adjacent teeth.
By having teeth to replace missing ones, it can avoid the embarrassment of not having teeth and not smiling.
Extraction
Having a tooth pulled in adulthood is sometimes necessary. Other reasons include:
A crowded mouth. Sometimes dentists pull teeth to prepare the mouth for orthodontia. The goal of orthodontia is to properly align the teeth, which may not be possible if your teeth are too big for your mouth.
If teeth are suffering with dental decay, severe gum disease or have sustained a traumatic injury rendering it beyond repair, the tooth may need to be extracted.
Infection. Often this can be corrected with root canal therapy , but if the infection is so severe that antibiotics or RCT do not cure it, extraction may be needed to prevent the spread of infection.
Risk of infection. If your immune system is compromised (for example, if you are receiving chemotherapy or are having an organ transplant), even the risk of infection in a particular tooth may be reason enough to pull the tooth. Once the tooth is removed, all of the post operative instructions and advice will be provided so that you are able to look after the area accordingly.
