Crowns, bridges

There are fixed and removable prostheses. Former ones are crowns, bridges, inlays, latter ones are the dental arches we call prostheses in the everyday language.

Crowns are the most common prostheses among the dental restorations. They are made by grinding the outer layer of the crown part of the tooth, in a way so that the replacing dental piece is similar in shape to the original shape of the tooth. A bridge is a crown prepared in one piece and placed on more than one tooth.

By the preparation there are many methods to choose from, however at our clinic we only use the more modern so-called shoulder preparation. During this, we build a shoulder-like, flat surface on which the crown in preparation sits. The greatest advantage of this way of preparation compared to the traditional tangential grinding is that the crown is totally cleanable, which reduces the possibility of the development of underlying caries. By tangential grinding after a while this complaint most probably happens, while in case of shoulder technique it depends on the patients how clean the area is kept.

Traditionally, crowns are ceramometallic, but metal-free prostheses used in the aesthetic dentistry also exist. The metal framework is made exclusively from Ni free alloy, to reduce the chance of the formerly common allergic reactions. Greater precision and longer lifespan is achieved by the usage of precious metals, which basically means gold ceramic prosthesis. The advantages of gold are the following; it is easy to mould, it is bacteriostatic (on a micro scale only, but it prohibits the multiplication of bacteria causing tooth decay), besides it has no aesthetical disadvantages.