Restorative Dentist in Ponte Vedra Beach Repairs Teeth
No matter how well you take care of your teeth, there may come a time that you need some help restoring your smile’s health after tooth decay or injury. If it happens to you, don’t worry — we are highly experienced in the rescue and repair of teeth with restorative dentistry. Patients in Ponte Vedra Beach, Nocatee, and Jacksonville Beach are welcome to contact us for an appointment with the Ponte Vedra Complete Dentistry team!
Traditional Crown & Bridge
A dental crown is a tooth shaped “cap” that is placed over a tooth. It is used to cover a restoration and brings back the tooth’s proper shape, strength, and appearance. Above the gumline, the crown is all that can be seen. It is permanent after being cemented into place and functions just like a natural tooth.
Crowns are often used to…
- Repair damaged teeth
- Support damaged teeth
- Improve the appearance of teeth
- Cover a fragile tooth due to a large filling
- Hold dental bridges in place
Crowns can be made of porcelain or another type of dental specific ceramic. They can also be made of a metal alloy or the combination of a metal alloy and porcelain.
During the first visit, one of our dentists will take X-rays and walk you through an examination. After deciding that a crown is the best option for you, the dentist will anesthetize the area. The dentist will then file down the sides and chewing surface of the tooth to obtain enough room for the crown to fit. How much is filed away will depend on the structure and condition of the tooth, as well as the crown itself.
The dentist will then take impressions of the tooth and those impressions will either go to the lab for crown formation or, in the case of crowns in a day, will be fabricated in the office. The dentist or the lab will make the crown so it most closely resembles the neighboring teeth in regards to color and shape. If the impressions are sent to the lab, temporary crowns made of acrylic are made and fastened in with temporary cement while we wait on the permanent product.
Learn More About Crowns Learn More About Dental Bridges
Tooth-Colored Fillings
Tooth-colored fillings offer a natural-looking alternative to silver, or amalgam, fillings. Your Ponte Vedra Beach dentist uses composite resin to fill new cavities, replace old gray dental work, and to make minor cosmetic improvements. Composite resin is a biocompatible material that is highly customizable to match the shade of your surrounding teeth.
Learn More About Tooth-Colored Fillings
Dentures & Partial Dentures
Our doctors at Ponte Vedra Complete Dentistry are thoroughly trained to provide the residents of Ponte Vedra Beach and surrounding communities with a variety of tooth replacement treatments.
There are many reasons for teeth to be missing. There are nearly as many reasons that some teeth that are missing would require replacement. Aside from the obvious reasons like esthetics, there are functional reasons as well. When a single tooth is lost, the adjacent teeth can drift into the opening and the entire bite can be changed. This can be costly and difficult to treat if neglected. Speaking and chewing can also be difficult with missing teeth. When teeth are missing, the sides of the face sag and indent. These indentations can add many years to the way a person looks. Along with implants and bridges, dentures can provide a solution to missing teeth.
Dentures can benefit a person who is missing teeth in many ways. First, dentures fill out the appearance of the face and eliminate the sunken appearance. Dentures are a lower cost alternative to implants and can be the chosen procedure for many patients missing teeth. Many patients that have been treated with dentures claim they have a better smile, better facial features, and better self-esteem as a result.
In addition to the esthetic aspects of dentures, there are many other tooth replacement benefits someone with missing teeth can consider. Missing teeth can negatively affect speech patterns, but dentures restore the natural shape of teeth so those proper patterns are restored. Chewing is easier with a full dentition and a reliance on soft foods can be eliminated. Dentures can keep teeth from drifting in the mouth, and they also spread the forces of mastication over more areas, therefore protecting any remaining teeth.
Complete Dentures
Complete dentures are a removable replacement to an entire dental arch. They are constructed of a special denture resin with either resin or porcelain teeth and are designed to replace the normal form and function of either the teeth in the upper jaw or the lower jaw. The complete denture uses the anatomic contours of the mouth, the opposing teeth, and the properties of saliva to stay retained in the mouth. The result can be functional and esthetically pleasing.
Removable partial dentures are designed to replace missing teeth in a smaller segment of the jaw. Removable partial dentures usually consist of artificial teeth attached to a gum-colored plastic base, connected by metal framework that holds the denture in its proper orientation in the mouth. Partial dentures are used when one or more healthy stable natural teeth remain in the mouth. These dentures are retained in the mouth by the anatomic variances of the bone and soft tissue, as well as special metal clasps that utilize the remaining teeth as support.
Extractions
Conservative dentistry is always our goal — and while we do everything we can to save your teeth, sometimes their removal is the best option for your overall health. Crowded teeth may need to be pulled in preparation for orthodontic treatment, for example. A tooth that cannot be rescued with root canal therapy will often require extracting. If we do need to pull a tooth, we will discuss a plan for replacement as soon as possible.
Wisdom Tooth Extractions
The most common tooth extraction is that of the wisdom teeth, or the third molars that may erupt between ages 15 and 24 or so. There is rarely enough room in the gum line to support these extra teeth, leading to their impaction or infection. Problematic wisdom teeth are often painful, and their prompt removal is important for protecting overall health. We may recommend removing the wisdom teeth earlier if they are likely to cause issues upon eruption.