Dental Prosthesis
Nourishment is a life-long basic necessity that is carried through by chewing and eating food. Our teeth have a major role in the act of chewing. Time damages our teeth and gums as it does in other parts of our body and may cause tooth loss. The resulting tooth loss is managed by different prosthesis types according to the amount of loss:
- Fixed Prostheses
- Removable Prostheses
- Implant Overdentures
Fixed Prostheses
These are the prosthesis types used to fix the teeth and allow the patient to perceive them as their own teeth. Crowns used for covering missing parts of a single tooth and bridges used for covering missing teeth are called fixed prostheses.
Dental Crown
A dental crown is a new covering for a damaged tooth. A crown may be made of metal or porcelain. Crowns tend to be a good long-term solution for teeth that have been chipped, cracked, or worn down.
Crowns are considered a relatively permanent solution. Once a crown is in place, it should last 5 to 15 years, or even longer if maintained properly. You should brush and floss a tooth with a crown as you would any other tooth.
Dental Bridges
When one or more teeth are missing, a dental bridge is a compromise between dentures and implants. As the name implies, a dental bridge is meant to bridge a gap left by missing teeth. A bridge is usually anchored to natural teeth at both ends of the gap and may be made of one or more false teeth, called pontics. In some cases, a bridge may be attached to an implant for greater security and stability. A bridge is often made of porcelain to look like natural teeth and must be brushed and flossed regularly. Special flossing aids called threaders may be necessary to get floss between the bridge and the gum line.
Removable Prostheses
These are the types of prostheses that are applied when the number of missing teeth cannot be compensated for with a fixed prosthesis or when all the teeth in the jaw are missing. Many patients fear their prostheses would be noticed, but today's technology provides a natural look to the prosthesis and manages to comply with the patient's aesthetic expectations.
Implant Overdentures
Implants are a method used to complete missing teeth. A part of the implant is planted in the bone with a surgical procedure, so the patients will feel and use the implants as if they were real teeth.
Although there are many advantages to implants, they are not viable for everyone. The patient's gingiva's (gums) general condition should be healthy, as well as the jawbone should be suitable to plant the implant. Some chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, osteoporosis, and chronic sinus problems, affect the recovery process and might cause the implant to fail.
If you want to implant, you will be subjected to a surgical operation, and your treatment will proceed for a couple of months. Also, implants are expensive systems.
Your dentist would inform you about the process of the treatment and, in some situations, might direct you to a specialist.
The dentist will plant the implant by exposing the bone in the area where the teeth are missing and boring a hole to place the implant. This procedure is usually done with local anesthesia, but in some cases with sedation or if you are in a hospital, general anesthesia might be used. Then the wound would be stitched and the patient would wait a couple of months for the bone to grow on to the implant and make the implant consolidate in the bone.
After this process, a second but smaller surgical procedure will be done to expose the upper part of the implant and the upper structure of the implant will be formed. Fixed or removable prostheses will be implemented over these implants.
Metal-supported crowns and bridges
The purpose of this prosthesis application is to extend the life of the teeth. For aesthetic
reasons, the teeth can be coated with metal-ceramic prostheses.
Metal ceramic prostheses have a metal layer under the porcelain.
Depending on the habits of the person and the state of oral care, this type of prosthesis has a life span of 5–6 years. The life span can be extended if oral care is good.
Non-Metal-Supported Porcelain Crowns
They are made with reinforced porcelain. Although many things affect the visual appearance of crowns, the most important of them is how they react to light. Light can pass through natural teeth, which gives their visual depth and vitality.
Non-metal-supported crowns (full porcelain) have more depth and vitality due to their ability to transmit light and therefore have a closer look to real teeth.
Full porcelains are closer to natural teeth aesthetically due to light transmission. Metal-porcelain has a hint of dullness and unnaturalness. Which is why, for front teeth, full porcelain crowns are preferred.
Because there is no metal in its infrastructure, there won't be a dark line in the crown-gingiva. It provides a more aesthetic look.
There is no risk of allergies to metals used for infrastructure in full porcelain crowns.
ZIRCONIUM SUPPORTED PROSTHESIS
In this system, zirconium, a white alloy, is used instead of metal as a substructure. This state-of-the-art infrastructure is the only material that can offer aesthetics and durability together. The system's main advantage is that it provides a full aesthetic appearance in the bridges in the posterior region due to its extremely high durability.
For many years, a metal substructure has been used under the porcelain tooth for durability in porcelain applications. Since the disadvantages of this metal infrastructure in terms of gums, dental tissue, general body health and, most importantly, aesthetics are known, the search for an alternative material to metal in the porcelain infrastructure has been going on for years. A new era has opened with the application of zirconium, which has been used successfully in other fields of medicine before, instead of porcelain metal in dentistry.
Because these new zirconium-based porcelain veneers do not cause gingival problems and allergies, they also provide aesthetics and functions close to natural teeth with their light transmission feature.
Crowns and bridges made by placing porcelain on zirconium are called "Cercon," which is a combination of the words "ceramic" and "zirconium." The system, with a resistance of 900 Mpa, has started a brand new era in dentistry by covering the highest physical values, as well as its light transmission feature, tissue compatibility, and many different indications.
The success of the material has been proven in medicine and industry. As a result of the research started in 1998, clinical applications have been started all over the world since the beginning of 2002. With this new application, the aesthetic concerns of the patient in metal-ceramic and all-ceramic restorations are definitely eliminated.