Restorative Dentistry in Arlington, TX
If you have one or more cavities or chipped/broken teeth, many dentists are happy to give you a lecture about your oral care. With Dr. Ravi Doctor, he’ll skip the guilt trip and just discuss how he can help you. Absolutely everyone needs a little restorative dentistry from time to time, so there is no need to feel bad about it! He’ll use the latest techniques and materials to provide you with a custom solution that looks just as good as it functions. To figure out which of the restorative dentistry treatments detailed below would be best for you, give us a call today.
Dental Crown
Dental crowns, also referred to as “caps,” are tooth-shaped restorations that get their name from the fact that they work by literally fitting over the top of a natural tooth. Crowns are used to fix a wide variety of problems, including large cavities, teeth with extensive physical trauma, and even cosmetic issues like a tooth being an odd shape or size. Our crowns are custom-made for each patient, so they both look natural and can be trusted to last for many years to come.
You may receive a dental crown if:
- You have a weak or cracked tooth that might break apart without a restoration.
- You have a significantly broken or severely worn-down tooth.
- You’re receiving a single dental implant and need the crown to act as a replacement tooth.
- Your tooth is misshapen, discolored, or otherwise affected by a severe cosmetic flaw.
The process of getting a dental crown in Arlington, TX can begin once Dr. Doctor has performed an examination and confirmed that your smile could benefit from this type of restoration.
Types of crowns
Not all dental crowns in Arlington are alike; there are many different materials that can be used depending on the needs of the tooth as well as your own preferences. We’ll make sure you know the difference between each kind of crown so that you can carefully weigh your options before making any kind of choice.
Here are a few of the different options we can provide:
Ceramic
When you’re concerned with how your smile will look after you receive your restoration, you’ll most likely want to consider an all-ceramic crown. Ceramic materials are translucent, and we can adjust their color as necessary to make beautiful, natural-looking crowns that blend right in.
- E-MAX crowns are crafted from lithium disilicate ceramic, a material selected for its exceptional translucency and robustness. Consequently, these crowns offer a blend of strength and durability while perfectly mimicking the appearance of your natural teeth.
- Zirconia is a variant of ceramic known specifically as zirconium oxide, which surpasses porcelain and several metal alloys in strength. It exhibits greater resistance to acquiring sharp edges through the usual wear and tear over time. Crowns made of zirconia are generally less abrasive and inflict minimal stress or damage on adjacent teeth compared to traditional porcelain crowns.
- SprintRay Crown by BEGO® is a ceramic-filled hybrid material for 3D printing single crowns, inlays, and onlays for one visit restorations manufactured right in our office! This material is high strength and high resistance to wear and features excellent aesthetics to blend with existing teeth.
Gold
Gold has long been used in dental restorations as it can withstand the forces of biting and chewing well. Crowns made from this material tend to have a longer lifespan. However, because they’re not the most aesthetically pleasing options, they’re normally recommended for the teeth that are in the back of your mouth and are out of the smile zone.
Dental Bridges
If you are missing or lose a single tooth and have healthy adjacent teeth, a dental bridge is often a good option for restoring that space. A dental bridge is a restoration made of an artificial tooth held between a pair of crowns. It gets its name from the fact that it spans – or bridges – the space left in your mouth when a tooth is gone. Bridges are typically anchored in place, which means they’re brushed and flossed as if they were real teeth, and you don’t take them in and out of your mouth. If you don’t have enough healthy teeth to support these crowns, dental implants may be placed for implant bridges. In either case, the result is a smile that looks complete and enjoys a fully restored chewing function.
- Traditional: To place a traditional bridge, natural teeth are prepared by having small amounts of enamel taken away. Said teeth are then covered by the crowns at either end of the bridge. No surgery is required, and you can receive your restoration in as little as two appointments.
- Implant: Your bridge can be anchored to a pair of dental implants that have been surgically placed in your jawbone. Dental implants require little maintenance, but they last for decades while also acting as replacement tooth roots, thus giving your new smile additional strength and stability. This approach avoids the need to make permanent changes to still-healthy teeth.
Tooth-Colored Fillings
Tooth-colored fillings are how Dr. Doctor quickly repairs minor cavities, and compared to traditional silver fillings, they are a huge leap forward. Firstly, the composite resin material can be matched to any patient’s enamel to ensure the restoration doesn’t stick out in the smile. Plus, these fillings are more conservative and require less enamel to be removed during placement, which, in the end, means the repaired tooth will be much stronger and more reliable.
Dentures and Partials
Dentures serve as a prosthetic solution designed to simultaneously replace multiple missing teeth, whether they are right next to each other or spaced throughout the mouth. Today, dentures consist of high-quality ceramic teeth affixed to an acrylic base colored to look just like gum tissue. Dr. Doctor can provide removable full and partial dentures as well as those retained by dental implants, enabling a patient to chew, speak, and smile like they used to.
Types of dentures
There are a few different types of dentures:
- A full denture is designed to replace either all the upper or all the lower teeth. This device features a base colored to match the gums, supporting a series of artificial teeth, typically crafted from acrylic or porcelain. Natural suction or a denture adhesive secures a traditional full denture in place.
- A partial denture replaces multiple teeth. It can replace a few teeth in a row, or it can replace teeth at various places throughout a dental arch by fitting in around the remaining natural teeth. Small attachments keep it secure in the mouth.
- An implant-supported denture can either be a full or partial denture. Its primary characteristic is that it is anchored in the mouth via prosthetic tooth roots that have been inserted into the jawbone.