How a Dental Crown or Bridge Can Improve Your Smile

Quick summary

A dental crown covers a damaged tooth completely and becomes its new outer surface, keeping the natural root and often preventing an extraction. A bridge fills the gap left by missing teeth and is anchored to the teeth either side. Both can be matched to the colour of your own teeth, are fixed rather than removable, and are usually placed across as few as two appointments.

Severely damaged, injured or diseased teeth can lead to not only cosmetic problems with your smile, but also functional ones. Your dentist may recommend dental crowns or dental bridges to treat your dental issues.

Dental crowns are a restorative dental therapy that covers the affected tooth completely, serving as the new outer surface of the tooth. A dental crown maintains the natural roots of a tooth and can prevent extraction. A dental bridge fills the gap left by one or more missing teeth and is affixed to bordering teeth with an anchoring crown.

Both dental crowns and dental bridges are made from a variety of materials that can be designed to match the colour of your surrounding natural teeth. As opposed to removable prosthodontics such as full or partial dentures, dental crowns and bridges are permanently bonded to existing teeth or dental implants, allowing them to function and appear as natural teeth.

Dental crowns and bridges have a number of advantages and benefits, such as:

Dental crowns protect the natural tooth after a root canal therapy, helping to prevent bacteria re-infecting the tooth that could lead to extraction.
Dental bridges restore gapped or missing teeth, providing support to the surrounding teeth, preventing them from shifting in to fill the empty space and affecting your speech, bite and smile.
Your dentist can typically place dental crowns and bridges in as few as two appointments.
Dental crowns and bridges are both long-lasting, durable therapies, designed to protect your natural tooth for years to come.
Dental crowns prevent bone loss by preserving the natural tooth roots, thereby stimulating the jawbone, preventing resorption, or shrinkage, of the bone following extraction.

If you have questions about what a dental crown or bridge can do to improve the form and function of your smile, talk to your dental professional today. You can restore your healthy smile and preserve it for years to come with a dental crown or dental bridge treatment.

Contact one of our dental offices Kogarah and Haymarket

Questions patients ask us about this

Why is a crown recommended after root canal treatment?

A tooth that has had root canal therapy is more fragile and more open to bacteria getting back in. A crown covers it completely, which protects the tooth and helps prevent the re-infection that can eventually cost you the tooth. It is the step that protects the work already done.

How does a bridge help the teeth around the gap?

Teeth drift into an empty space over time. As they shift, your bite, your speech and the look of your smile all change with them. A bridge fills the gap and supports the neighbouring teeth so they stay where they should be, which is why gaps are worth addressing sooner rather than later.

How long does it take to have a crown or bridge fitted?

Typically as few as two appointments, though your own case depends on what the tooth needs first. The equipment listed for our Kogarah surgery includes digital X-rays and intraoral scans — read more about crowns and bridges, or ring (02) 9281 0007.

Where to read more on this at Village Dental Kogarah

Reading about it only gets you so far. These are the pages that explain how our dentists in Kogarah actually treat it, and what a visit involves.

Village Dental Kogarah is at Shop 5/23-26 Station St, Kogarah NSW 2217. Eight clinicians work across our two Sydney practices, including a dental prosthetist — meet the team. We look after patients from Kogarah, Kogarah Bay, Rockdale, Bexley, Bexley North, Carlton, Allawah, Banksia, Monterey and Sans Souci. If you would like to talk it through, call (02) 9281 0007 or book a time online.

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A note on this articleThis is general information written for patients, not dental advice for your own mouth. Teeth, gums and medical histories differ, and so does what suits them, so please have a dentist examine you before deciding on any treatment. If something in your mouth is painful, bleeding or has been knocked out, ring us on (02) 9281 0007 rather than waiting.