A beautiful smile is important to your health, hygiene, confidence, and self-esteem. At our office, we can help you have the most attractive, natural-looking smile possible, through advanced prosthodontic care. Prosthodontics, or prosthetic dentistry, is an area of dentistry that concentrates on the aesthetic restoration and replacement of teeth to their proper form and function.
As a comprehensive dental practice, we offer our patients a wide range of prosthodontic treatments. Prosthodontic care focuses on complete oral rehabilitation and treatment of numerous dental conditions, such as
- TMJ/TMD
- Traumatic injuries to the mouth’s structures
- Congenital or birth anomalies to teeth
- Snoring and sleep disorders
- Oral cancer reconstruction and continuing care
Prosthodontic Treatment Options
In order to restore your smile, we may recommend the following prosthodontic treatments:
Crowns
Crowns are a restoration used to improve your tooth’s shape or to strengthen it. Crowns are most often used for teeth that are broken, worn, or have portions destroyed by tooth decay. Think of a crown as a “cap” cemented onto an existing tooth which fully covers the portion of your tooth above the gum line. In effect, the crown becomes your tooth’s new outer surface. Crowns can be made of porcelain, metal, or both. Porcelain crowns are most often preferred because they mimic the translucency of natural teeth and are very strong.
Dental Implants
An implant is an artificial tooth made of metal and porcelain that looks just like your natural tooth. It’s composed of two main parts: one is the titanium implant body that takes the place of the missing root, and the other is the tooth-colored crown cemented on top of the implant. With dental implants, you can smile confidently, knowing that no one will ever suspect you have a replacement tooth.
Dentures
Dentures are natural-looking replacement teeth made by a dentist that are removable. There are two types of dentures: full and partial. Full dentures are given to patients when all the natural teeth have been removed. Partial dentures are attached to a metal frame that’s connected to your natural teeth. They are used to fill in where permanent teeth have been removed.
Fillings
A filling is often used to repair a tooth affected by wear, decay, cracks, or fractures. The decayed or affected portion of the tooth is removed and replaced with a filling, which can be made up of many different materials, such as gold, porcelain, composite, ceramic, and plastic compound.
Occlusal disease is caused by a misalignment between the teeth of the upper and lower dental arches. This is also called malocclusion. If left untreated, occlusal disease can damage your teeth, the supporting bones and gums around your teeth, temporomandibular joints, and the jaw muscles you use for chewing. Many people dismiss excessive or abnormally accelerated tooth wear as natural aging or wearing of teeth, but prosthodontic treatment can alleviate the pain and discomfort caused by occlusal disease.
Veneers
Veneers are thin, custom-made shells made from tooth-colored materials, such as porcelain, designed to cover the front side of your teeth. Veneers are natural in appearance and a great option for patients who want to make adjustments to the look and feel of their smile.
