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My dentist told me my front tooth needs a 'crown'. What exactly is a crown? |
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 A crown is like a jacket or cap that fits over a prepared tooth. It has the same shape as the original tooth. If a tooth is badly broken down, a crown is often the only option. By fully enclosing the tooth it is strong, and where indicated it can have an excellent appearance, looking just like a real tooth. It can be made of a metal alloy, of porcelain, or a combination of both. To allow the crown to fit, the tooth must be prepared first. This involves trimming the tooth down a little. Crowns are fixed in place with cement.
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He also mentioned the tooth needs Root Canal Treatment. What does this mean? |
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Root canal therapy is where the nerve in the tooth has died and has to be removed. When the nerve dies, as it decays, bacteria multiply and cause an infection. This leads to pain and an abscess if left untreated.
The procedure is actually totally painless, and can be quite a relief if you've been in pain beforehand! The dentist uses small precision files to clean out the space in the middle of the tooth that contains the nerve. This space is then filled with a rubbery material, sealing it. This procedure allows a tooth to be kept that would otherwise have to be extracted.
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I have a gap near the side of my mouth and the dentist mentioned the option of a bridge. What is a bridge?? |
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A classical dental bridge (now called a "fixed partial denture") is like two crowns, with a false tooth between them. The whole bridge is cemented in place, thus the missing tooth is replaced by the replica tooth between the two crowns. Bridges can be much more complicated than this and different types exist.
Sometimes, the bridge is glued to the backs of the teeth each side of the space, instead of putting a crown over the whole tooth. This is known as a 'Maryland Bridge'. |
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A friend of mine is having a dental implant placed. What is this? |
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Dental implants are a comparatively recent development. An implant is basically a titanium screw, upon a false tooth is supported, which 'screws' directly into the jaw bone. Implants are used as anchors for fixed false teeth (like a crown or bridge as described above) or to provide support for a removable denture.
Implants are very successful, but they are not suitable for everybody. You must have enough bone to place the implant into for example.
Implants are quite expensive, but where they can be used, they are often the ideal solution to replacing missing teeth. |
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How safe are Amalgam / Mercury fillings? |
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 Dental amalgam has been used on patients for over 150 years. All available world-wide research indicates that amalgam is not harmful to health. This view is endorsed by the International Dental Federation, the International Association for Dental Research, the US Department of Health and Human Services, and many dental associations, including the American, British and Canadian.
No Government or reputable scientific, medical or dental body anywhere in the world accepts, on any published evidence, that dental amalgam is a hazard to health.
Dental research is ongoing in a wide variety of areas, including filling materials, in the search to provide the most up to date and safest treatments to the public at large. |
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