Is a failing tooth threatening your oral health? What about that gap--would you like to fill it and smile, bite, and chew as you used to? At Ottawa Smiles Dental, Dr. Todd Brower offers beautiful porcelain crowns and fixed bridgework to complete smiles, making them strong and functional. Come to our Holland, MI, office for a visit with this experienced dentist.

What is a dental crown?

Used for decades to cover, support, and enhance the appearance of a decayed, weak, fractured or infected tooth, a crown features tooth-colored porcelain and exceptional crafting techniques. In his Holland office, Dr. Brower recommends crown placement as a superior alternative to extraction and its smile-damaging consequences. If you have received dental implants, crowns will restore those as well.

To receive a crown, your dentist will examine and X-ray your tooth first. If it's infected, you may have a root canal procedure first to remove the inflamed pulp and strengthen it with a rubbery sealant. Once your tooth is stable and shaped to receive the crown, Dr. Brower glues it in place and adjusts the bite and fit.

What is a bridge?

A bridge is a fixed prosthetic that spans a smile gap created by the loss of one or more teeth. Conventional bridges are composed of pontic, or artificial, teeth and two or more crowns. These crowns affix to teeth adjacent to the smile gap.

Depending on circumstances, your dentist may select a cantilevered bridge attached to natural teeth on a single side of the smile gap. Alternatively, a Maryland bridge attaches the pontic teeth with metal wings bonded to the tongue-side of natural teeth.

Finally, Dr. Brower offers implant-supported bridges. One or more implants carry the artificial teeth and actually improve your bone structure and gum tissue.

What do you need?

Anyone who has lost teeth needs the best possible tooth replacements. Bridgework and crowns help your oral function, facial appearance, and self-confidence. Plus, if you have been symptomatic, these restorations eliminate the pain, sensitivity, and other discomforts associated with failing teeth.

Contact us to learn more

At Ottawa Smiles Dental in Holland, Mi, Dr. Todd Brower wishes the best of oral health and smile aesthetics for all his patients. For more information on improving your smile with crowns and bridges, see your dentist for an in-office consultation. Phone us today at (616) 399-3600.