Restorative Dentistry – General Dentist Steveston

Dental Crowns

If you need dental crowns your general dentist Steveston, Richmond, BC, here at Family Dentistry & Implants In Steveston Richmond can take care of you! We have been helping area residents improve their smiles since 1983. Your dentist will recommend a dental crown if your tooth or teeth need extra protection that can’t be provided by fillings or other restorative procedures.

Dental crowns are commonly referred to as caps. They cover the entire surface of your tooth in order to strengthen and improve its structure. Crowns are ideal for patients who have:

• Dental decay
• Fractured, broken or weakened teeth
• Damaged or fractured fillings
• Root canals that need to be protected

• A large filling that needs to be replaced
• Dental implants that need to be covered
• Discolored, misaligned or poorly shaped teeth

Crowns are also used to attach a dental bridge, which fills the space left by one or more missing teeth.

Types of Dental Crowns

Your general dentist Steveston, Richmond, BC, typically offers four types of dental crowns to patients. They include:

• Porcelain Fused to Metal: Porcelain is the most popular material because it’s the most aesthetically pleasing. It mimics the color of a natural tooth and is very durable.
• Ceramic: This type of dental crown is commonly used for restoring the front teeth because of its natural-looking color. Ceramic crowns are constructed with porcelain-based materials and are highly wear resistant.
• Gold Alloy: A mix of metals, including gold and copper, make up this type of dental crown. Gold alloy crowns are ideal for the back molars because of their superior strength.

Your dentist will work with you to select the right type of dental crown for your unique needs.

How the Procedure Works

When you visit us for dental crowns in Richmond, BC, you should expect two trips to our office. The first one will include examining and preparing the tooth for the procedure. The second appointment is to seal the final crown. Please be aware that if your tooth shows signs of advanced decay, a root canal may be needed prior to the procedure.

Your tooth also may need to be filed or filled before your dentist can take impressions of your mouth. These impressions will be used by a dental lab to craft a more personalized permanent crown. A temporary crown will be placed at the end of your first visit in order to protect the tooth.

Once your permanent crown is prepared, your dentist will remove the temporary cap and cement the final product into place. Your dentist may need to make some adjustments, but the crown should function and feel like a normal tooth.

With the proper care, your dental crowns can last a lifetime. You should brush and floss teeth with dental crowns like normal.

Periodontal Examinations

Roughly 70% of adult tooth loss is caused by gum disease, also known as periodontal disease. Here are the common signs and symptoms of gum disease:

• Gums bleed when brushing or flossing
• Gums that are red around the base of the teeth
• Chronic bad breath
• A bad taste in your mouth
• A feeling of pressure between teeth after eating
• Shiny, red, puffy or sore gums
• Loose teeth

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, we recommend you make an appointment with your general dentist Steveston, Richmond, BC here at Family Dentistry & Implants In Steveston Richmond as soon as possible. The good news is that gum disease if caught in the early stages, can often be treated and arrested. At Family Dentistry & Implants In Steveston Richmond, we can perform special cleaning, called scaling and root planing, to remove plaque and tartar around the teeth, which causes gum disease.

Root Canal Therapy

When the nerve of your tooth becomes infected, a successful root canal treatment lets you keep the tooth rather than having to pull it out. Keeping your tooth helps to prevent your other teeth from drifting out of line and causing bite and jaw problems. Saving a natural tooth avoids having to replace it with an artificial tooth. Inside the tooth is an area of soft tissue called the pulp, which carries the tooth’s nerves and blood vessels. Root canals are very small, thin divisions that branch off from the pulp chamber down to the tip of the root. A tooth has between one to four root canals in most cases.

When the pulp becomes infected due to a deep cavity, fracture or trauma, it can die. As a result, pain is felt when biting down and apply hot or cold foods and drinks. A dead tooth may cause pain and/or swelling. Your dentist may notice the infection from a dental x-ray for other changes with the tooth. If left untreated, an abscessed tooth can introduce serious oral health problems.

Root canal therapy cleans the diseased pulp and reshapes the canal(s) using very fine dental instruments. The canal is then filled with a rubber-like substance called gutta-percha or another material to prevent recontamination of the tooth and then permanently restored with a post and/or a crown. This enables patients to keep the original tooth.

Your general dentist Steveston, Richmond, BC can help you with your root canal treatment. Our staff can guide you through the process and provide all the information you need. Contact us today so we can start helping you out with this and other treatments.