Prosthodontics is the treatment, rehabilitation and maintenance of oral function, comfort, appearance and health for patients with missing or deficient teeth or tissues.
We specialize in :
Typically porcelain crowns are placed when a significant amount of tooth structure is lost and when placing a filling would jeopardize the integrity of the tooth or compromise the aethetics or strength. Generally, they cover the top of the tooth and go down the side of the tooth, holding it together to prevent further damage to the teeth.
Traditional crowns have gold inside of them with porcelain bonded to the outside for aethetics. These are sturdy and durable and hold up well to the 200 pounds of pressure put on them during chewing function. The newer porcelain crowns are called "second-generation" materials because they are stronger and more durable than the original porcelain type materials that were used thirty years ago.
These new materials have more flex, better wear, more translucency to match the natural color of your teeth and they bond better to either the tooth or the metal underneath the porcelain on the porcelain/metal crowns.
Bridges are placed when there are one or more teeth missing and the objective is to stabilize the bite, prevent the adjacent teeth from tilting, and the opposing teeth from dropping down into the space that has been lost.
DENTURES generally refers to the replacement of an entire arch of teeth with a removable appliance with either plastic or porcelain teeth on it. If there are a few teeth left, then it is referred to as a Partial Denture.
This will either have acrylic base holding it in place, or it will have metal clasps to secure it to the adjacent teeth. Generally when a denture is placed for the first time, it takes a while to get used to it, since it is a foreign body in your mouth. Dentures should be brushed just like you would your natural teeth because they can build up tarter on them as well.