A crown is a hollow cap that fits over a tooth, which are too extensively decayed, damaged or discoloured for treatment by other means with an aim of giving it strength and/or improving its appearance. The supporting tooth has to be reduced in size to make room for the crown. Crowns may be made from a variety of materials.

A bridges on the other hand is a way or replacing a missing tooth with a fixed solution. There are many different designs of bridges, but the most common is a fixed bridge, which is made by placing crowns on the teeth either side of the space, and then joining the crowns together by placing a solid crown in the space to replace the missing tooth - in other words "bridging the gap".

Preparing a tooth for a crown

The tooth to be crowned may require root filling or rebuilding with a "build-up core" material before we drill the tooth to a "peg" shape for the crown. Tooth preparation for a crown is normally done under a local anaesthetic, relatively painless and takes approximately 15 to 45 minutes per tooth. We then takes an impression of the prepared tooth/teeth, which is sent to a laboratory where the crown is made. A temporary crown is fitted to maintain the appearance, and keep the tooth comfortable and in the correct position.

Fitting the crown

At the fitting visit, the temporary crown is removed and the new crown tried in, to assess that it has an adequate appearance, fit, shape, and the occlusion is correct. The crown is finally cemented in place with a dental cement and presuming good dental hygiene is followed a well fitted crown or bridge should last for 10 or more years.