At Regency Dental, our primary goal is to help you keep your natural teeth strong and healthy for a lifetime.
Over the years, it is incredibly common for teeth to suffer from severe decay, large failing fillings, or fractures from daily wear and tear. When a tooth is too compromised for a standard filling, a dental crown provides full-coverage protection. By placing a custom-crafted “cap” over the entire visible portion of the tooth, we can instantly restore its original shape, strength, and function. This proactive approach saves the natural tooth root and prevents the need for a more complex extraction in the future.
How Dental Bridges Replace Missing Teeth
Losing a tooth can deeply impact your daily life, making it difficult to chew comfortably and causing you to hide your smile. Furthermore, leaving a gap in your smile allows your remaining teeth to slowly shift out of alignment, creating complex bite issues. A dental bridge is a trusted, highly reliable solution for replacing one or more consecutive missing teeth. By permanently anchoring a custom ceramic replacement tooth to the healthy teeth on either side of the gap, a bridge beautifully literally “bridges” the space. This prevents unwanted shifting and restores your ability to eat, speak, and laugh with complete confidence.
Determining Whether You Need A Crown Or Bridge
We believe that patients deserve to fully understand their clinical needs so they can make empowered, informed decisions about their care. During your visit to our Omaha, NE office, Dr. Ellingson, Dr. Spanel, or Dr. Nelson will never rush you or pressure you into a quick choice. We evaluate your unique situation to provide honest recommendations:
- You need a crown if: You have a severely cracked tooth, a tooth treated with root canal therapy, or extensive decay that requires structural reinforcement to survive.
- You need a bridge if: You are completely missing a tooth and need a strong, fixed replacement to restore your bite and prevent your surrounding teeth from shifting. We will always base these recommendations on your long-term health goals—because we firmly believe dental insurance is a benefit, not a comprehensive treatment plan that should dictate your care.
Materials Used For Modern Crowns & Bridges
In the past, restorative dentistry often relied on noticeable metal or gold. Today, we utilize advanced, high-grade ceramics and porcelain that offer incredible durability while flawlessly mimicking the light-reflecting properties of natural enamel. We take the dedicated time to meticulously custom-match the shade and texture of your new restoration to your surrounding teeth. Whether we are repairing a single molar or replacing a front tooth, our goal is to ensure your crown or bridge looks beautifully natural and is virtually indistinguishable from the rest of your smile.
The Crown & Bridge Treatment Process
We have invested heavily in advanced digital dentistry to make your restorative treatments faster, highly precise, and incredibly comfortable. When you visit us in Omaha, NE, you can say goodbye to messy, gag-inducing impression putty.
- Digital precision: We utilize iTero intraoral scanners to capture a highly accurate 3D model of your teeth in seconds.
- Same-day convenience: For many crown procedures, we utilize in-office CEREC® milling technology to design and create your permanent ceramic crown right here in the office, completely eliminating the need for fragile temporaries or multiple visits.
- Total comfort: If the thought of restorative dental work causes you anxiety, you are in a safe, judgment-free place. We offer comprehensive sedation options—including nitrous oxide, oral sedation, and IV sedation—so you can relax peacefully while we rebuild your smile.
Protecting Your Bite & Preventing Further Damage
A beautifully restored smile must also be a highly functional one. When placing a crown or bridge, we pay careful attention to how your upper and lower teeth meet. If your teeth were originally damaged due to chronic clenching or nighttime grinding (bruxism), placing a new ceramic restoration will not stop those destructive forces. To protect your investment and relieve the associated jaw tension, we may recommend a custom-fitted nightguard or targeted injectables for TMD therapy. This holistic approach ensures your new dental work and your jaw muscles remain in perfect, comfortable harmony.
Long-Term Care For Crowns & Bridges
We consider ourselves your lifelong partners in health, and we want your restorative work to last for decades. Caring for your crowns and bridges is straightforward but requires diligent daily habits:
- Consistent brushing: Brush twice daily with a soft-bristled brush to keep the margins where the crown meets your gumline free of plaque.
- Specialized flossing: While you can floss normally around crowns, bridges require the use of a floss threader or water flosser to clean completely underneath the replacement tooth.
- Routine monitoring: Keep up with your personalized preventive check-ups at Regency Dental so we can proactively monitor the stability and health of your restorations year after year.