The short version
- Start with whether the tooth is still there and savable.
- A crown is the largest category by a distance, and the cheapest of the three.
- A bridge means preparing two healthy teeth to carry one missing one.
- An implant needs enough bone, healthy gums and a healing period.
- Most people asking about implants have a tooth that can be saved.
- Tooth present
- Crown
- Gap, sound neighbors
- Bridge or implant
- Gap, no neighbors
- Implant
- Implants here
- Referred out
Three treatments, constantly confused, answering three different questions. The question is not which is best. It is whether the tooth is still there.
| Crown | Bridge | Implant | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The tooth is | Present, damaged | Missing | Missing |
| What it uses | The tooth itself | The teeth either side | The jawbone |
| Surgery | No | No | Yes |
| Prepares healthy teeth | No | Yes, two of them | No |
| Relative cost | Lowest | Middle | Highest |
| Done at this practice | Yes | Yes | Referred out |
Dental crowns
A crown is a cover cemented over an existing tooth, made to fit that tooth and made of a material that is not distinguishable from the teeth around it.
It does two jobs at once. It adds strength to a damaged or weakened tooth and stops it breaking further, and it covers a tooth that is discolored or misshapen. Pain from a damaged tooth often settles once a crown takes the load off it.
What it requires. Healthy gums, because the gum supports the crown at its margin. And enough sound tooth remaining to save, because a crown covers a tooth rather than replacing one.
When it gets recommended. A chipped, cracked or damaged tooth. A weak tooth needing support. A tooth so discolored that whitening would not touch it. A tooth that has just had a large filling or a root canal and needs protecting.
More on what a crown is and how it is fitted is in what a porcelain crown is.
Dental bridges
A bridge spans a gap where a tooth is missing, anchored to the teeth either side. Those anchor teeth are usually crowned to carry it.
What it requires. Sound teeth on both sides of the gap, healthy enough to take the load of the missing tooth as well as their own.
The trade. A bridge is fixed and involves no surgery. It also means preparing two healthy teeth to support one absent one, which is a genuine cost when those teeth are otherwise untouched. Where they already need crowns, the same work does both jobs and the calculation changes entirely.
Dental implants
An implant replaces a tooth that is gone. A post is placed in the jawbone and a replacement tooth, usually a crown, is attached to it.
What it requires. Enough healthy bone to hold the post, healthy gums, a surgical procedure, and a healing period before the final tooth goes on.
Dr. Back does not place implants. The practice treats the teeth you have. A case that needs implants is referred to a specialist, which is the honest answer rather than the one that keeps the work in-house.
How to tell which applies
Work down in this order. It is the same order the examination follows.
- Is the tooth still there and savable? Crown. This is the largest category by a distance and the cheapest of the three.
- Is the tooth gone, with sound teeth either side? Bridge or implant, depending on whether you are willing to involve the neighboring teeth.
- Is the tooth gone, with nothing suitable either side? Implant.
Most people who arrive asking about implants have a tooth that can be saved. Establishing that is the entire purpose of the examination, and it usually leads to the less invasive and less expensive treatment.
Booking an examination
Sarasota Smile Design is on Clark Road in Sarasota, an easy drive from Nokomis, Osprey and Venice. Open Monday to Thursday, 8am to 4pm.
Call 941-927-5411, or see dental crowns.
