You are eating dinner and suddenly you are holding half of one of your teeth in your hand. Weakened by a fracture or a large filling, the tooth is now in obvious need of repair. You may need to get a crown fitted, an artificial replacement of the upper part of the tooth, to restore the function and look of the damaged one. A crown completely covers the tooth above the gum line and protects it. Types of crowns include the full porcelain crown, the porcelain-fused-to-metal crown and the all-metal crown.


Alternatively, you have one or more missing teeth due to decay or an accident. This loss changes the look of your smile, your bite, gives rise to decay / gum disease and puts stress on surrounding teeth to compensate for the lost tooth. One option for you may be to replace the lost tooth with a bridge. The missing tooth is replaced with an artificial tooth connected between two crowns (caps) which are permanently cemented or bonded on the adjacent teeth.