Dental Crowns
A dental crown is a dental restoration for the visible portion (crown) of a tooth. In the last decade, amazingly natural-looking and extremely durable materials have been developed to perfectly mimic the properties of a normal tooth. When finished, neither you nor your friends will be able to tell the difference between your new dental crown and your real teeth.
In our office, we use Fastmill, a computer aided design tool to capture a digital impression of your teeth and design and recreate your teeth in our own office or at a dental laboratory. Dr. DeCillis is extensively trained in this technology.
The Dental Crown PROCESS
In the past, or in offices where in-office milling is not used, if a patient needed a crown (a cap over a problem tooth), the tooth would be prepared and then a physical impression of the teeth would be taken and sent to a lab.
At Soulsmile, we use computer aided technology to take a digital impression with a camera wand and the impression is sent digitally to a dental laboratory for fabrication of a ceramic or zirconia crown. Digital impressions result in faster turnaround times which means less time wearing a temporary crown. In certain cases, such as with premolar and molar teeth, we can even mill your crown in our office and seat it in a single visit!
Dental Bridges
A dental bridge is a series of connected dental crowns utilized to fill in a gap in a smile, such as a missing tooth or teeth. The dental bridge is affixed to adjacent teeth, with the end result being a complete and attractive smile where a gap once was. Most modern offices these days will recommend a dental implant in this instance, but we are always able to create a bridge to either replace an existing one when needed or for areas where you may not be a candidate for dental implants.