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Food Trap In Farnborough

 A client came to see us at Time Dental about getting food getting trapped between two teeth.  On examination we found that there was a gap between two upper molar teeth.  When you have this type of issue food or plaque bacteria gets stuck and can flare up the gum and cause continued gum problems.  It can also result in decay starting in between the two teeth.  To stop this from progressing and getting any worse we decided to place a crown on one of the teeth to close the gap and so stop the food trapping. One of the teeth already had a gold crown, now these are good for protecting the teeth and preventing the teeth from breaking however this particular gold crown had been there for a very long time and from an aesthetic point of view it was not pleasing to the eye and so the client wanted to have it looking like a normal tooth again.

When choosing crowns you essentially have three options; gold crowns, metal ceramic tooth coloured crowns or all-ceramic (porcelain) crowns.  The traditional metal ceramic crowns have been around for a number of years, they used to be the favoured choice for tooth coloured crowns however are now being superseded by the all-ceramic (porcelain) crowns which have a substructure of zirconia.  This is a material that is extremely strong and is the best in terms of strength and aesthetics and success rates for longevity. 

Crowns cover the biting surface and circumference of the tooth.  They can be used for a number of reasons.  In this case it was used to close a space and provide a natural looking tooth.  If you are unhappy with the shape of a particular tooth, crowns can help to reshape a tooth; they can also be used to lighten teeth.  Most of the time crowns are placed to protect the remaining tooth. If you have a very large filling in your tooth the cusps, which are the pointy parts of your back teeth, can be weak in structure so when you are biting and chewing there is a risk of the tooth breaking.  To prevent this fracture a crown helps to protect the tooth so that you can chew and bite confidently. 

So, crowns; a good way of protecting your remaining tooth allowing you to chew and function correctly and also can improve the aesthetics of your smile.