Crowns and Bridges

Crowns and bridges can transform your smile if you have damaged, decaying, or missing teeth. At Tropical Dental Care in Tomball, Texas, experienced general and family dentists Kenneth Tran, DDS, and Nikki Korloo, DDS, with the team, regularly partner with dental labs to design custom crowns and bridges. Call the office to learn more about crowns and bridges today or book online.

What are crowns and bridges?

Crowns and bridges are restorations that repair damaged, severely decaying or missing teeth. 

Crowns

A crown is a cap that your dentist bonds over a severely damaged or decaying tooth. The crown restores your tooth’s size and appearance and protects it.

Bridges

A bridge has an artificial tooth (pontic) and two crowns or a metal framework. The pontic fills a gap in your smile where a permanent tooth used to be. You may also attach a bridge to a dental implant.

When are crowns and bridges necessary?

The Tropical Dental Care team uses crowns to:

• Repair weak or decaying teeth
• Cover or support teeth with large fillings
• Cover dental implants
• Complete root canal therapy
• Hold dental bridges in place

You might benefit from a bridge if you’ve lost a permanent tooth because of extraction, trauma, or poor oral hygiene. The bridge fills your empty socket and prevents your remaining teeth from moving out of place.

What does getting crowns and bridges involve?

At Tropical Dental Care, getting crowns and bridges takes two visits.

Process for getting dental crowns

If you’re getting a crown, your provider numbs your mouth with an anesthetic and removes the decaying or damaged portion of your tooth. Your provider takes an impression and covers your tooth with a temporary crown. Then, they send your impression to a dental lab that creates a custom crown.

When your custom crown is ready, you return to Tropical Dental Care. Your dentist replaces the temporary crown with the permanent one, checks your bite, and polishes your teeth.

Process for getting a dental bridge

If you’re getting a bridge, your provider administers a local anesthetic and removes a thin layer of enamel from the abutment teeth on either side of your empty tooth socket. Then, they take and send the impression to a dental lab. The dental lab uses your impression to create a custom dental bridge.

After the lab finishes the bridge, you return to Tropical Dental Care. Your dentist bonds the bridge in place, checks your bite, and provides care instructions.

Call Tropical Dental Care to learn more about crowns and bridges today, or book online.