When your teeth are at their best, you want to smile. Dental crowns and replacement teeth, such as implants or bridges, can provide you with beautiful and valuable alternatives when your natural teeth are decayed or lost. The following guide will show you how your dentist can help you achieve a healthier, more radiant smile.
Size and Shape Matter
While everyone raves about bright, white teeth, they miss a few critical factors: size and shape. Crowns and replacement teeth need to have the correct size and shape to blend in with your existing teeth. Therefore, when a dentist creates a tooth replica, they must make it in the optimal size and shape.
Using Dental Molds Can Help
In an earlier time, getting a correctly configured tooth involved making molds of your existing teeth. These molds were sent to a lab to make your crown or dental implants. This process is still used to make our bridges and gives us excellent results. Today, thanks to CEREC or Chair-side Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramic, crowns and implants can be made at your dentist’s office in one day. When you go to a dentist for a dental implant or crown, they perform a 3D scan of your teeth. The CEREC system uses computer-aided technology to generate an identical replacement tooth. After your dentist approves or revises this design, they use the CEREC machine to create your crown or implant from durable ceramic material.
Your Exact Shade
Before creating your tooth replica, your dentist will help you choose its shade. Typically, they will show you some models and suggest three possibilities. You then select the tooth color that will help you look your best.
More Than Just a Good-looking Smile
Cosmetic dentistry is about more than making your teeth look good. It is an excellent way to preserve your dental and overall health since teeth play a critical role in nutrition. Your dentist can use replacement teeth to help redesign your bite for more comfortable and efficient chewing. This will help you enjoy a full range of foods.
In the past, decayed teeth often meant trading natural teeth for a set of dentures. While dentures are still a good option for some people, they are not for everyone. If you think you might benefit from a crown, implant, or another replacement tooth, you need to contact your dentist for expert dental care as soon as possible.
About the author:
Anita is a freelance writer from Denver, CO. She studied at Colorado State University, and now writes articles about health, business, family and finance. A mother of two, she enjoys traveling with her family whenever she isn’t writing. You can follow her on Twitter @anitaginsburg.