Dental Crowns Staten Island, NY

What are dental crowns?

A dental crown is a cap that surrounds the tooth. We typically use a crown to restore a damaged tooth, but they can also use it to improve the appearance of a smile. A crown can consist of three different materials, all-metal, ceramic-on-metal and all-ceramic. The location of the crown in the teeth will determine the best material to use. For example, front teeth need to have an all-ceramic crown, if possible, since it looks the most natural. Patients may often use ceramic-on-metal crowns since they look natural but have the durability that only metal can provide.

What Are Dental Crowns Used For?

Crowns are placed on top of a tooth that is cracked, has a large filling, is discolored, or has decayed. This option allows you to keep your tooth and protect it from further damage. Dental crowns can be milled and shaded to look like your natural teeth. Depending on where the crown is placed in your mouth, porcelain, ceramic, or metal can be used. Typically, all-ceramic crowns are used to replace front teeth because this material can most easily be crafted to match adjacent teeth.

What are dental bridges?

A dental bridge is a way to replace a missing tooth. At RSN Dental PC, we provide clients with dental bridges if they want to replace a tooth without wearing dentures or undergoing surgery. The new tooth is held in place by two crowns. It looks natural and consists of a ceramic or porcelain material to match the surrounding teeth. As a cosmetic dentist, Dr. Vlad Shikhmanter will make sure that the new tooth looks and feels amazing.

What Are Bridges For?

Bridges are used to replace one or more missing teeth in your upper or lower arch. Dental bridges are fixed to adjacent natural teeth to support the abutment teeth. This treatment option is a good alternative to dental implants. Dr. Shikhmanter will make the abutment teeth from porcelain or ceramic and shade them to look like your natural teeth.

Consider Teeth Whitening Before Getting Crowns or Bridges

If you’ve considered brightening your smile, we recommend you allow us to provide you with our teeth whitening options before you have a crown or bridge placed. Crowns and abutment teeth are shaded to the color of your natural teeth. If you are considering teeth whitening treatments, this needs to be done first. Please speak with us about this during your exam.

Before the Procedure

If you are getting dental crowns or a dental bridge for cosmetic reasons, we recommend that you whiten your teeth first. At RSN Dental PC, we offer teeth whitening procedures that can improve the appearance of your smile quickly and easily. It is important to have this procedure done first because the material that crowns and bridges are made out of are both stain and bleach resistant. That means that if it is created to match yellow teeth, it will remain yellow even if you have your teeth whitened at a later date. When you have the procedure done first, your new crown or bridge will be made to match your new brilliantly white teeth.

When preparing for the procedure, we recommend that patients take a day off of work. If possible, you may want to take a couple of days off. It is normal for teeth to be somewhat sensitive, and it is easier if you don't have to worry about meeting clients and keeping up with your busy schedule.

Staten Island, New York Dental Crowns and Dental Bridges

The Process

When getting dental crowns and dental bridges installed, it is advisable that you work with a cosmetic dentist that knows how to complete the procedure in a way that looks natural. At RSN Dental PC, we can do so while also working to keep our patients as comfortable as possible by using sedation dentistry. The process for both procedures is fairly similar. Before getting started, an impression is taken of the teeth so that the new crown or bridge can be created in a dental lab.

When placing a dental crown around a tooth, RSN Dental PC starts by preparing the tooth. We will need to remove a portion of the enamel so that there is room for the new crown to surround the tooth without pushing other teeth out of place. Once complete, we will clean the tooth and secure a temporary crown to it using removable glue. Patients typically wear a temporary crown for around two weeks while waiting for a permanent one to be created in the lab. During this time, it is important to be careful with what you eat and how you brush your teeth since the temporary is designed to come off.

When the dental restoratives are complete, patients return to our Staten Island dentist office, so that we can remove the temporaries and bond the permanent ones to the tooth. For a dental crown, we will secure the cap around the tooth and complete it through dental bonding. With a bridge, a crown is placed on the two teeth that are surrounding the missing one. On top of the crown is a piece that looks like natural gums that will hold the new tooth in place. These two crowns serve as anchors for this synthetic "bridge" and makes a new tooth as durable as it can be. Patients depend on this procedure as a way to replace missing teeth in a way that looks natural and restores the functionality of the missing tooth.