Single Crowns
A crown is used to cover a damaged tooth. Besides strengthening a damaged tooth, a crown can be used to improve the tooth’s shape, size and appearance.
Usually, the dentist recommends crowns in the following cases:
• cover a tooth after root canal treatment
• cover a discolored or poorly shaped tooth
• restore a fractured tooth or protect a tooth from fracturing
• instead of a large filling or inlay when there is not enough tooth left
• cover dental implants
• attach a bridge
• If only the root of a tooth is remained, then a post is inserted in the root and the crown is placed on it. This is called a post crown.
Materials used for crowns:
There are several dental crowns materials used for production of dental crowns. Permanent crowns can be made from all metal, porcelain-fused-to-metal, all resin, or all ceramic materials.
Ligeti Dental Clinic offers the following types:
Porcelain-fused-to-metal crown:
This type of crown has been the most common option done in dentistry for many years. Tooth colored ceramic covers a metallic alloy substructure. Although the all-porcelain crown is very strong, there are many circumstances when a porcelain fused to metal version is a better choice. This type of crown is often used when destructive night grinding is a problem or when long span bridges are needed. Absolutely fabulous esthetic results can be achieved with porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns.
Porcelain-fused-to-gold crown:
Porcelain-fused-to-gold crowns give the most precise fit of all crown types since gold is an extremely workable metal. The preparation of a tooth for a gold crown is the simplest and least complicated preparation for the dentist since there is minimal tooth structure removal. Another advantage of this procedure is that the gold substructure is extremely thin, the porcelain cover is thicker which creates an excellent esthetic effect.
Full porcelain or ceramic crown:
All-porcelain or -ceramic crowns provide the best natural appearance and are also an excellent choice for patients who have metal allergies. They are most commonly used for front teeth, as they have an excellent natural appearance. However, they are not as strong as the porcelain-fused-to metal crowns and are more expensive, and can be prone to chipping or cracking. As such, they are not typically used for molars.
The Procera and Cercon Crowns:
The procera system is a digital procedure of creating customised prosthetic components. The used materials are zirconium oxide or aluminium oxide. Both are made with CAD-CAM technology. The impressions are scanned to a computer and the crowns or bridges are designed by a computer operated milling machine. The difference between the the Procera and the Cercon is that the base material of Procera is hard zirconium oxide, which can be prepared only by the parent company's industrial-strength machines.
The base material of Cercon is relatively soft and it can be prepared by a special machine of any dental laboratories as well. By additional heat treatment this material also becomes hard, similar to Procera. Other companies also produce materials similar to Cercon, for example Ceramill. In case of the Procera system the scanned data are sent to Sweden through the internet. The crowns prepared by the procera system have no metal frames, so light can pass completely through the crowns and underlying teeth.
Fixed bridge
A bridge replaces a single or multiple missing teeth. If there is a gap left by a missing tooth it will cause the remaining teeth to shift into the empty space or rotate, resulting in a bad bite. Unfortunately, the imbalance caused by missing teeth can also cause gum disease and joint disorders. Bridges are permenantly cemented to healthy teeth on either side of the tooth that is missing or on implants surrounding the empty space.
As with bridges such as with crowns you have choices of materials. Your dental expert can help you decide which to use, based on the location of the missing tooth (or teeth), its function, aesthetic considerations and cost. Porcelain or ceramic bridges can be matched to the color of your natural teeth. During the preparation of the permanent bridge, temporary bridge can be provided.
Please find furher information about the costs and types of permanent and temporary crowns on our price list.
Dentures
There are two main types of dentures: full and partial.
Dentures are used in case of bigger partial or total loss of teeth. These are usually false teeth that are fixed to a metal or a flesh-colored acrylic plate. This plate is placed on the gums or the palate.
Full dentures:
A conventional full denture is placed in your mouth after any remaining teeth are removed and tissues have healed.
Partial dentures:
A partial denture rests on a metal framework that attaches to your natural teeth. Partial dentures can be attached to existing teeth, sometimes covered by crowns, with the help of indirect retainers /anchorage.
Wearing removable dentures may cause certain inconvenience at the beginning, but you can get used to it after a short period of time. However if you would like a more secure solution and your bone is strong enough, denture supported by implants is also possibility..
Implant supported overdentures:
The implants help keep the denture securely in place and provide better function and comfort. An implant-supported denture has special attachments that snap onto attachments on the implants providing better retention to the overdentures. An implant supported denture may be done in either the upper or lower jaw.
Overdenture with clip bar system: A thin metal bar that follows the curve of your jaw is attached to two to five implants that have been placed in your jawbone. Clips or other types of attachments are fitted to the bar the denture, or to both. The denture fits over the bar and is securely clipped into place by the attachments.
