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Prosthodontic Care: Fixed and
Removable Rebuilding of Teeth
Crowns: A crown covers the whole top of the tooth. It can be made with gold alloy, base metal, or porcelain. A popular type of crown combines the strength of the gold under porcelain for aesthetic purposes. In children’s dentistry, where teeth will soon be lost, stainless steel crowns are used.
Bridges :Fixed bridges are made by preparing (usually) two or more teeth for crowns and making an all gold-porcelain dummy tooth (pontic) between them. The bridge is cemented in the mouth and cannot be removed by the patient. (Occasionally patients call prosthesis that they remove from the mouth to clean a bridge, but it is not a fixed bridge.)
Dentures: When all the teeth of the upper or lower arch are replaced with a removable appliance, it is called a denture. They are made with a pink plastic to fit the gums, and plastic or porcelain teeth for aesthetics and chewing. The time and materials vary, as does the cost.
Immediate Dentures: Because patients do not like to be suddenly without teeth, an immediate denture can be made before the last teeth are removed. It is inserted at the time of the final extractions. These prosthesis need to be relined a few months later as there are changes in the bone and soft tissue just after extractions are done.
Partial Dentures: When only some of the teeth of either dental arch are missing, then they can be replaced with a removable partial denture. It is removable. Because parts are thin, usually a metal framework is made to support the plastic and teeth. This treatment is more economical than fixed bridges or implants.
Implants:For patients who do not choose a removable appliance, dental implants have become the standard of care. They can replace one tooth lost in an accident or from decay, several teeth, or all the teeth on an arch. When they replace many teeth, two or three implants can have something like ½ of the snap placed on the implant and the other half placed in the denture or partial. Or they can be made like a fixed bridge replacing all (or most of) the missing teeth and the appliance is attached to the implants with screws imbedded in the bridgework that only a dentist can remove. This technology is new, and for those of us placing them we are finding we are changing the lives of our patients.
| OVERVIEW | THE TOOTH | PREVENTION | ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT | PERIODONTAL CARE | RESTORATIVE DENTISTRY | ENDODONTIC OR ROOT CANAL THERAPY | ORAL SURGERY | TMJ of TMD | PROSTHODONTIC CARE |
Chatsworth Dental Group
21800 Devonshire Street Chatsworth, CA 91311
818-709-1200
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