Dental ‘speak’, what does it all mean?
While it’s a dentist’s job to explain the choice of treatments available to you, sometimes it’s hard to know your veneer from your bridge, so we’ve explained some of the common treatments for you:
Crowns are used to strengthen damaged teeth or replace missing tooth structure. It’s used to entirely cover or cap a damaged tooth. A crown not only strengthens a damaged tooth but it can improve the appearance, shape or alignment.
Read more about crowns here
Bridges are used to strengthen damaged teeth or replace missing ones. They are commonly used to replace one or more missing teeth as they span the space where the teeth are missing. Bridges are cemented to the natural teeth or implants surrounding the empty space.
Read more about bridges here
Dentures are removable false teeth made of acrylic (plastic), nylon or metal. They fit snugly over the gums to replace missing teeth and eliminate potential problems caused by gaps. Depending on the amount of teeth missing you can have either a complete denture, replacing a full row of teeth, or a partial denture replacing just one or a few teeth.
Read more about dentures here
A dental implant is a titanium screw placed in the jawbone to support one or more false teeth. An implant can be used to replace one single tooth, right through to a complete set. You need to have a healthy amount of bone in your jaw to be suitable for implants, so a number of tests beforehand are required.
Read more about implants here