Dental Bridges Vs Dental Crowns - Understand the Difference

If you have one or more badly damaged or missing teeth, the two very popular tooth restoration options recommended by dental clinics in San Antonio are dental bridges and dental crowns. Dental bridges and crowns are designed to restore your oral health in good shape and they are intended to function just like your natural teeth. But before you decide to restore your damaged/missing teeth with dental bridges or crowns in San Antonio, it is important to thoroughly understand the procedures of both these methods to determine which restoration option is right for you considering your oral health condition.

Dental bridges are recommended when patients have more than one missing or severely damaged teeth in a row. Bridges are generally used to replace the missing/damaged tooth after extracting the affected teeth. Dental bridges are generally supported by the healthy teeth next to the gap on either side to provide support to the structure. 

Dental bridges can be used even in patients with weak or deteriorated jaw bones. Moreover, they are sturdy enough to allow the patient to eat, speak, and chew normally which also improves the facial appearance to a great extent.

A bridge is a quick and easy way to replace one or more missing teeth in a row. Getting dental bridges in San Antonio requires two visits to your dentist. During the first visit, the adjacent teeth will be prepared just as they would be for fixing crowns over them. Your dentist will fit a temporary bridge or separate temporary crowns while the bridge is customized by the lab as per your teeth’s impression. During the second visit, the final customized bridge is fitted and cemented to the adjacent teeth.

There are four types of dental bridges - the traditional bridge which is the most popular type fixed with dental crowns on either side of the gap. A cantilever bridge is the same as a traditional bridge, except that only one side of the pontic tooth will have the support abutment structure. Maryland bridge with metal framework bonded to the back of the teeth adjacent to the gap to keep the pontic in place. Lastly, the implant-supported bridge is very sturdy as it uses dental implants instead of frameworks or crowns for support.

Dental crowns are a very reliable dental restoration method that helps in restoring the tooth that has been damaged significantly. For getting dental crowns in San Antonio, you won’t be required to extract your natural tooth. Instead, it will guard your natural tooth and make it functional again with dental fillings and a crown shell.

Basically, crowns are a cap-like structure that covers the tooth, replacing the outer enamel layer with new material. A crown is customized and sized as per your natural tooth and it will come in contact with the adjacent teeth on either side naturally. So, when a crown comes into function, it offers the look and feel of your natural tooth. Depending on the material you choose for the crown, it can also appear like your natural tooth.

Dental crowns are preferred as a tooth restoration method when the existing natural tooth is broken, fractured, or chipped. During the process, the natural tooth is filled and reshaped to fit the crown. The decay from the tooth is removed and the structure is restored with dental fillings so that it can support the crown well. After that, the crown is cemented which acts as a cap to the newly altered tooth. This restores the function of the natural tooth and improves its strength.

Crowns are available in different types of materials such as porcelain fused to metal, ceramic crowns that appear like natural teeth, base metal alloys, and crowns made of gold alloys.

We hope this post was helpful. For more details about tooth restoration procedures, feel free to schedule an obligation-free consultation with us.

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