A crown is a tooth – shaped cap that is placed over a weakened/damaged tooth in order to restore the tooth’s shape, size, and strength and improve its appearance. Crowns are also used to hold a dental bridge in place, cover misshaped or discolored teeth, or cover a dental implant. Crowns can be made from all metal (I.e. gold alloy or chromium), porcelain-fused-to-metal, resin or ceramics.
Bridgework is a dental appliance used to replace one or more missing teeth, when there are teeth remaining on either side of the space. A dental bridge is composed of at least two crowns (called abutments) connected to each other by the replacement teeth (known as pontics) The two porcelain crowns are secured to teeth on each side of the space, securing the bridge in place. Bridges can be fabricated from gold, porcelain, or porcelain-fused-to-metal.