Posts tagged “metal ceramic crowns”

Dental Implants at a Farnham Dentist

February 8th, 2012

A client came to see us looking for options to replace back teeth that had been taken out a number of years ago.  He was currently finding it difficult to eat and chew properly and wanted to know what his options were.

On assessing his mouth he was missing his last teeth on the top and bottom jaw and as a result was putting more pressure on his remaining teeth which made him at risk of breaking them.

One option could be to provide a denture.  This is a removable appliance that needs to be taken out daily and cleaned.  Due to the fact that it had to be taken out this was not an option that he wanted to choose.

A fixed option could be a bridge as long as there were teeth on either side of the gap.  This was not the case for this patient as he was missing his last teeth at the back.

The other option is a dental implant.  This is  titanium root that is placed into the jaw.  The dental implant then holds a post onto which a crown is fitted.  Dental implants are an excellent option for missing teeth with 98% success rates.  They are routinely placed by a specialist implant surgeon, Dr Queseshi at Time Dental and the crown is then placed by the restorative dentist Dr Rashid.  The advantage of placing implants are the high success rates, ease of placement, excellent longevity, and no need to prepare any adjacent teeth.

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Replacing Mercury fillings at dentist near Farnborough

January 18th, 2012

A patient came to see us at Time Dental for their routine healthy mouth review having not been to see us for quite some time.  She had some old mercury amalgam fillings which had been in place for over twenty years, and at her last healthy mouth review she was advised that they needed replacing as they looked to be failing.  She was not experiencing any symptoms at the time and preferred to leave them for the time being.

On her most recent review we found that the teeth with mercury amalgam fillings now had cracks running down the sides of the teeth.  This progression is very common to see mercury filled teeth and is better to be dealt with in the very early stages as things get progressively complicated if left in place.

Mercury fillings expand and contract over a period of time and combined with strong downward chewing forces can eventually result in micro enamel cracks occuring in the teeth.  At some point either the filling or the tooth will break.  When visible vertical cracks can be seen the tooth normally needs something much more robust to prevent the crack from propagating and splitting the tooth.  Porcelain or metal ceramic crowns are tooth coloured restorations which help to protect the broken tooth from splitting.  If amalgam fillings are relatively small to medium sized and they are at their early stages of failing they can normally be replaced with white composite fillings.  However if they are failry large in size either onlays or crowns are recommended as they also cover the biting surface of the teeth which protect the weaker parts of the tooth.

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Porcelain crowns at a dentist in Farnham

November 9th, 2011

A client came to see us requesting to change old mercury fillings that she had since a child.  Mercury fillings a currently far less acceptable for dental fillings nowadays.  Firstly they contain mercury which is a toxic metal;  secondly the tooth has to be prepared more to keep the mercury filling in place; thirdly they look awful; fourthly they actually weaken your teeth over time as they expand and contract which results in hairline cracks appearing.  The tooth or the fillng will eventaully beak possibly leaving you in a dire situation for that tooth.

Fortunately there is a solution.  When a filling is very large, it leaves the tooth weak in sturucture.  Combine this with a mercury filling and your tooth is ready to break on you.  When replacing large fillings it is common to advise crowning the tooth to protect it.  A crown is best seen as a “bomb shelter”.  It protects the tooth from all sides and prevents the cusps from breaking as they are encased with in the crown. 

There are 2 main types of crowns.  Metal crowns and tooth coloured crowns.  The metal crowns are generally made of gold.  Gold is the best metal to have in your mouth as it is time proven and also creates an affective seal.  Most people prefer the tooth coloured types as it looks more natural.  There are two main tooth coloured types.  Metal-ceramic crowns and porcelain crowns.  Metal ceramic crowns are the traditional types however due to the metal underneath it can make the gum line look bluish.  The porcelain crowns are the strongest and most natural looking crowns.  There are a number of types of porcelain crowns, they can be made of zirconia, or a pressed ceramic.  The best thing to do is discuss your options with your dentist who will able to advise you appropriately.

Feel free to call us for advice on 01252 723 008

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Crowns at a dentist in Farnham

October 27th, 2011

A new client came to see us today in Farnham having lost a front tooth.  On discussion with him he had previously had crowns on his two upper front teeth for twenty years and one of them had fallen out.  He had some quite extensive work on them as they had been root treated with posts also placed in them.  He had been wearing temporary crowns for quite some time and they kept falling out.  He was now fed up with the situation and wanted a permanent solution.

There are two main tooth coloured types of crowns.  Metal ceramic crowns and porcelain all-ceramic crowns.  Metal ceramic crowns are the traditional type of tooth coloured crowns.  They have been around for many years and is certainly a viable option.  The main down side to metal ceramic crowns are that they can look a little lifeless and the gum line round the edge of the crown can look bluish due to the metal work underneath.

The upgrade would be the porecelain all-ceramic crowns.  Again there are a number of types available, and each type is used in different situations.  If the underlying tooth is very dark and discoloured then a zirconia all-ceramic crown may be the best option.  If the tooth structure is not too dark then a pressed all-ceramic crown could be advised.  Both are extremely strong and give the best aesthetic results.  Your dentist will be able to advise you appropriately.

In this gentlemans case the posts were very dark so the options were either a metal-ceramic crown or a zirconia all-ceramic crown to give the best and strongest aesthetic option.

Feel free to call us to see how we can help you.  01252 723 008

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Broken tooth in farnham needing a cosmetic dentist

September 22nd, 2011

A client came to see us at Time Dental having broken his front tooth in an accident in Farnham.  He was also concerned about the overlapping crowded front teeth and wanted to know what his options were.

On visual inspection of his mouth, he had fractured his upper incisor horizontally and he also had quite a severe overlap of his upper front tooth.

There were a number of options for repairing his broken tooth.  The least invasive procedure is composite bonding.  This invloves adding composite white filling to the broken edge to restore the tooth back to the correct shape. 

A further option could be to veneer the tooth.  A porcelain veneer is a lab made bespoke restoration which is handcrafted by an expert master ceramist.  Veneers are very strong once bonded to the tooth and will last for many years.  They do not stain like composite fillings and are a great alternative to composite bonding. 

The last option is to crown the tooth.  A porcelain crown is again a handcrafted bespoke restoration by the ceramist.  It encompasses the whole tooth to provide all round protection of the broken tooth.  More preparation is required to provide space for the porcelain crown, but again this type of restoration will last many years.

After discussing all the options, the patient decided to go with composite bonding as he wanted to preserve as much of the original tooth as possible.

Feel free to call us to see how we can help you.  01252 723 008

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Dark teeth in Farnham

August 4th, 2011

A client came to see us recently who was unhappy with the colour of two of her front teeth.  She had them crowned a number of years ago and had recently had a course of tooth whitening which resulted in mismatching teeth colour.  Although she was very happy with the tooth whitening result, the crowns were now darker than the rest of her teeth and she still didn’t want to show her teeth when smiling.  If you whiten your teeth white fillings and crowns will stay the same shade but the natural teeth will whiten.  So if you have white fillings or crowns at the front of the mouth be prepared to have these replaced to match the lighter teeth!

On closer inspection the two crowns were certainly darker than the rest of the natural teeth.  The crowns were also made of metal-ceramic which resulted in a bluish line around the gum line of the crowns.  This is very common to see as this is the metal showing through.  The crowns were also different lengths and were not symmetrical in shape.

We discussed the different options for replacing the crowns.  As she had an aesthetic issue due to the metal ceramic crowns we decided to go for the All-ceramic tooth coloured crowns which are the strongest and best in aesthetics.  We also designed the teeth to look symmetrical in shape.

Now she can be confident in showing off her teeth when smiling.  That’s one happy client.

See how we can help you call us on 01252 723 008

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Broken crowns in Fleet

March 22nd, 2011

A guest came to see us at Time Dental as they had broken their crowns and the metal was showing through.

During our conversation the lady had very big chewing muscles particularly by the jaw line.  She tells me that she used to suffer from anxiety and had a history of clenching her teeth together.  When inspecting her back teeth, she had indeed broken the porcelain off her back crowns which exposed the underlying metal sub structure which made the teeth look terrrible!

There are generally three types of crowns; gold, metal-ceramic and all-ceramic.  Gold is a metal that is time proven and has been around for a number of years, however due to the unaesthetic qualities it is not always a popular choice.  Metal ceramic crowns are tooth coloured but have a metal sub structure.  These types of crowns are the traditional types and have also been around for many years.  The newer crowns are the all-ceramic.  The are metal-free and are completely tooth coloured.  They are extremely strong and some types can even be bonded to the tooth for added strength.

After discussing the options with our guest, she opted for the all-ceramic crowns due to the strength and aesthetics.  We also discussed the use of a splint to help reduce the stress on her teeth at night time.  This would help protect her crowns as well as reduce muscle stress.

Call us to see how we can help you on 01252 723 008

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Chipped crowns in Fleet

March 8th, 2011

If you have a very strong bite and grind your teeth you are very likely to chip the porcelain off your crowns.  This was the case for a client at Time Dental.  She was also very nervous about having impresions taken of her mouth as they made her gag.

On assessing her chewing muscles and her teeth, we found that she indeed used to grind and clench her teeth as she suffered from anxiety.  This left her exixting crowns under enormous amounts of pressure.  Did you know that if you clench or grind your teeth you can put up to ten times more pressure on your teeth than someone who doesn’t do it?  That’s a huge force.  This had resulted in the porcelain on her crowns chipping off exposing the metal under her crowns.  This meant that not only did the crowns look ugly, but her chewing function is reduced meaning that she would not be able to chew her food properly.

We decided to replace the existing crowns with stronger porecelain crowns which are are able to withstand much more force than the traditional metal ceramic crowns.  However we had to also get her over the gag reflex which she was worried about.  Dr Rashid talked her through her anxiety and pin pointed what it was that actually bothered her.  After running through breathing exercises and how to control the reflex the client was over the moon after we had taken the impressions so quickly and without her feeling worried.  Now that was one happy client!

See how we can help you by calling 01252 723 008

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Sensitivity in Aldershot

January 15th, 2011

A tooth can become sensitive for a number of reasons.  A client came to Time Dental in Surrey with a slight throbbing ache from a lower molar tooth and it was also senstive to cold and hot drinks.  These are classic signs that a tooth is unhappy and the nerve within the tooth is causing the problem.  In this instance the tooth was heavily decayed around a large white composite filling.  The decay had become very close to where the nerve of the tooth was which was why it was giving the symptoms.  One option for this tooth could be to fill it with a white composite filling or an onlay. This tooth would then still be monitored as the nerve within the tooth maybe irreversibly damaged.  If the decay has already reached the tooth the options for this tooth would either be root canal therapy or extraction.  Most people would prefer to save their teeth and choosing root canal therapy is a good way of restoring the tooth so that you can chew properly again.  Root canal therapy involves cleaning where the nerve lies within the roots of the teeth and then filling the canals where the nerve used to be.  In most instances a crown is normally recommended to protect the remainder of the tooth. 

 A crown protects the whole tooth and allows you to chew properly.  They can be made of gold, metal ceramic or all-ceramic.  The tooth coloured options are obviously popular as they look like a normal tooth.

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Food trap in Farnborough

January 4th, 2011

 A client came to see us at Time Dental about getting food getting trapped between two teeth.  On examination we found that there was a gap between two upper molar teeth.  When you have this type of issue food or plaque bacteria gets stuck and can flare up the gum and cause continued gum problems.  It can also result in decay starting in between the two teeth.  To stop this from progressing and getting any worse we decided to place a crown on one of the teeth to close the gap and so stop the food trapping. One of the teeth already had a gold crown, now these are good for protecting the teeth and preventing the teeth from breaking however this particular gold crown had been there for a very long time and from an aesthetic point of view it was not pleasing to the eye and so the client wanted to have it looking like a normal tooth again.

When choosing crowns you essentially have three options; gold crowns, metal ceramic tooth coloured crowns or all-ceramic (porcelain) crowns.  The traditional metal ceramic crowns have been around for a number of years, they used to be the favoured choice for tooth coloured crowns however are now being superseded by the all-ceramic (porcelain) crowns which have a substructure of zirconia.  This is a material that is extremely strong and is the best in terms of strength and aesthetics and success rates for longevity. 

Crowns cover the biting surface and circumference of the tooth.  They can be used for a number of reasons.  In this case it was used to close a space and provide a natural looking tooth.  If you are unhappy with the shape of a particular tooth, crowns can help to reshape a tooth; they can also be used to lighten teeth.  Most of the time crowns are placed to protect the remaining tooth. If you have a very large filling in your tooth the cusps, which are the pointy parts of your back teeth, can be weak in structure so when you are biting and chewing there is a risk of the tooth breaking.  To prevent this fracture a crown helps to protect the tooth so that you can chew and bite confidently. 

So, crowns; a good way of protecting your remaining tooth allowing you to chew and function correctly and also can improve the aesthetics of your smile.

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