Dental Bridges
Bridge the gap created by one or more missing teeth. Dental bridges are supported by natural teeth or implants.
What Are the Benefits of Dental Bridges?
Bridges can:
- Restore your smile
- Restore your ability to properly chew and speak
- Maintain the shape of your face
- Distribute the forces in your bite properly by replacing missing teeth
- Prevent remaining teeth from drifting out of position
Do they require any special care?
The bridge and false tooth need to be cleaned daily, just like your natural teeth, so that issues such as gum disease do not develop. Special brushing equipment, such as interdental brushes or superfloss, is very useful and you can obtain these from dentist.
Are different types of bridges available?
Yes, there are various types available and all of them use varied fixing methods and materials. Discussing your options with your dentist will allow you to have the most efficient type.
Dental Crowns
What exactly is a crown?
Also known as a cap, a crown is a fitting that is placed over the remaining portion of a natural tooth. Crowns are ideal for protecting teeth that have been weakened by fillings, cracked or broken down. It possesses the shape of a natural tooth and strengthens your existing, damaged tooth so as to preserve its functionality.
Why might I need a crown?
- Tooth is significantly decayed and there is not enough tooth remaining to support a filling material
- If a large portion of your tooth has fractured and cannot be built up
- If you have had a dental implant to replace a missing tooth
- After root canal treatment, a crown is often needed to strengthen the tooth
- Damaging your teeth through grinding or acidic erosion
- For cosmetic reasons, to improve the aesthetics of your smile
How long will a crown usually last for?
Dental crowns at Galston Dental Practice are of the highest standard, but, as with your natural teeth, the lifespan of a crown will depend entirely on how well they are cared for.
Teeth Whitening
Tooth whitening is the most non-invasive method of brightening your smile. It involves using peroxide containing whitening gels in a custom made, soft mouthguard. The mouthguard loaded with the gel is usually worn over night. This is one of the gentlest and longest lasting methods of whitening.
Teeth whitening at Galston Dental Practice is a very simple yet effective way of swiftly lightening the colour of your teeth. Please note, it only works on natural teeth and not on any type of false tooth fittings including dentures, veneers and crowns.
It is advised that whitening treatment is done professionally by a dentist after thorough assessments and evaluations of your teeth.
Tooth Coloured Fillings
Amalgam-Free Fillings (containing no mercury) are becoming more and more popular for health as well as cosmetic reasons.
Advantages of composite fillings:
Aesthetics – the colour can be closely matched to existing teeth shade
Chemically bond to tooth structure – providing further support to the tooth.
Veneers
What is a veneer?
A veneer is a thin wafer like ceramic material that is custom made to be bonded onto a discoloured, chipped, worn or mildly mal-aligned tooth. It gives excellent aesthetic properties because of its translucency that mimics actual enamel of a tooth.
What advantages to veneers provide?
Veneers will look just like your natural teeth, giving you a healthy and sparkling smile. Also, because they are so thin, very little preparation is required on your natural teeth.
When might I need veneers?
Veneers can help many issues you might have with your smile. They can improve the shape, position and colour of your teeth. You can choose the appropriate shade of porcelain for a veneer, whether you are improving a singular tooth or lightening an entire row.
Veneers can also improve the look of broken and chipped teeth. They can also close small gaps between teeth, thus avoiding orthodontic treatment if it is not necessary. Teeth that are out of position can sometimes be helped with veneers, which bring it back into line with the rest of the natural teeth.