Implants, Bridges, and Crowns: What's the Difference?
Florida: Jacksonville Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach
Modern dentistry offers a number of options for replacing missing and very damaged teeth, and it’s important that patients understand the benefits and drawbacks of each of these options before deciding what is right for them.
The three general types of tooth replacement currently available are dental implants, bridges, and crowns.
Dental Implants
Dental implants are complete tooth replacements that are permanently implanted into the jaw, so they look and function like natural teeth.
These are an ideal solution for teeth that are either already missing, or that are damaged beyond repair. The dental implant consists of a full artificial tooth, including the root, which is permanently implanted into the jaw just like a real tooth.
Benefits of dental implants over other options include that the presence of the tooth root prevents osseointegration, a process in which the bone of the jaw is dissolved and deteriorated due to the absence of the tooth. Also, because dental implants are affixed by the root, they don’t require modification of adjoining teeth to affix them, as dental bridges do.
Dental Bridges
Dental bridges are replacements for missing teeth consisting of the portion of the tooth that appears above the gum line. Dental bridges are permanently affixed, and allow patients to chew and use the teeth normally, but unlike dental implants, they do not replace the root portion of the tooth.
Dental bridges are affixed to adjoining teeth, as the name implies, like a bridge. This technique allows the tooth to be permanently affixed without being affixed through the gum.
Dental bridges are less invasive and usually less expensive than dental implants, but because they only replace the top portion of the tooth, they cannot prevent osseointegration, the loss of bone in the jaw as a result of the missing tooth. Dental bridges also require modification of adjoining teeth to allow the bridge to be affixed.
Tooth Crowns
Tooth crowns are an option available for repair of severely damaged teeth in which the root and sufficient remaining tooth material are available to affix a cap. If the tooth is missing or too damaged to save, patients still have the option of choosing dental implants or dental bridges for tooth replacement.
To affix a tooth crown, the dentist files away damaged material from the surface of the tooth, and modifies the remaining tooth material to allow the tooth cap, or tooth crown, to be fitted over the top. The dentist then takes a mold of the modified tooth, and uses it as a template to create a new, artificial surface for the tooth, to be permanently affixed to the natural tooth.
For cases in which a tooth is damaged on the surface, but the tooth root and some above-gum tooth material can be salvaged, tooth crowns can be an ideal solution, as they allow the damaged portions of the tooth to be replaced, while keeping the root intact.
For more information on dental bridges, tooth crowns, dental implants, or other cosmetic dentistry reparations, or to schedule an appointment with Dr. Williams, please email our offices or call us at:
