RESTORATIVE & RECONSTRUCTIVE DENTISTRY
Fixed Prosthodontics
Crown Restoration
A crown is a type of dental restoration which completely protects or encircles a tooth. Crowns are typically bonded to the tooth using dental cement. Crowns can be made from many materials and are often used to improve the strength or appearance of teeth.
Crown and Bridge Restoration
A bridge, also known as a fixed partial denture, is a restoration used to replace a missing tooth by joining permanently to adjacent teeth or dental implants. Types of bridges may vary depending upon how they are fabricated and the way they anchor to the adjacent teeth.
Removable Prosthodontics
Complete Dentures
Dentures are prosthetic devices constructed to replace missing teeth and are supported by surrounding soft and hard tissues of the oral cavity. Conventional dentures are removable, however there are many different denture designs. There are two main categories of dentures, depending on whether they are use to replace missing teeth on the mandibular (lower) arch or the maxillary (upper) arch. Complete dentures or full dentures are worn by patients who are missing all of the teeth in a single arch.
Partial Dentures
Removable partial dentures are for patients who are missing some of their teeth in a particular arch. Fixed partial dentures, also known as "crown and bridge", are made from crowns that are fitted onto the remaining teeth which act as abutments.
Tooth Colored (White) Restorations
Dental composites are also called white fillings or direct fillings. Crowns and in-lays can be made in the laboratory from dental composites. These materials are similar to those used in direct fillings and are tooth colored.
Inlays and Onlays
An inlay is an indirect restoration (filling) consisting of a solid substance (such as gold or porcelain) fitted to a prepared tooth and cemented into place. An onlay is the same as an inlay, except that it extends to replace a cusp. Crowns are onlays which completely cover all surfaces of the tooth.
When decay or fracture incorporates areas of a tooth that make amalgam or composite restorations inadequate, such as cuspal fracture or remaining tooth structure that undermines perimeter walls of a tooth, an onlay might be indicated. Similar to an inlay, an onlay is an indirect restoration which incorporates a cusp or cusps by covering or onlaying the missing cusps. All of the benefits of an inlay are present in the onlay restoration.
Provisional (Transitional) Restorations
Temporary Crowns and Bridges
A temporary crown is a provisional, short term restoration used in dentistry. Usually the temporary crown is constructed from a chemical-cure composite, although alternative systems using aluminium crown forms are occasionally used by practitioners. The temporary material is shaped by the dentist to form a tooth shape that protects the prepared tooth, prevents damage to the periodontal tissues (gums) and disguises the prepared tooth to a degree until the final, definitive restoration can be made by a dental technician.