Dental Crowns & Bridges in Maple Ridge, BC

Our teeth are extremely durable, and when they are in good condition, they stand up well to daily chewing and routine wear and tear.

However, over time, you can experience tooth decay, teeth grinding, fractures, or just the natural ageing process that weakens or damages your teeth. Or, you may lose a tooth due to a sports injury, automobile accident, or poor oral hygiene. 

If you have a missing tooth or one that's broken or severely decayed, we can help you with customized crowns and bridges at our Maple Ridge dental clinic.

Crowns and bridges are customized tooth restorations that we cement onto existing teeth or implants to replace missing teeth and protect damaged teeth. Both will improve your smile's confident appearance and allow you to chew comfortably again. 

Dental crowns are often called caps or tooth caps because they cover an entire tooth down to the gumline. At Meadow Ridge Dental Centre, zirconia is the material we most commonly use for crowns and bridges. Zirconia crowns are strong and durable and can last up to 20 years when you care for them properly. 

Our dentists often use dental crowns in the following ways:

• Replace a large filling
• Protect a weakened tooth from fracturing
• Strengthen a root canal-treated tooth
• Restore a cracked tooth
• Strengthen a worn-down or broken tooth
• Conceal discoloured and misshapen teeth

We commonly use a crown to protect a single tooth and with other devices, such as implants and dental bridgework, to fill gaps in your smile. 

Dental Bridges Replace Missing Teeth

We recommend dental bridges as tooth replacements for patients with one or two missing teeth in a row. Replacing missing teeth is about much more than improving your smile's appearance; a space between your teeth can cause surrounding teeth to shift and create tooth misalignment. 

This misalignment can lead to many issues, such as: 

• Jaw pain
• Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders 
• Gum disease

A dental bridge spans the gaps in your smile left by tooth loss. We cement crowns onto adjacent natural teeth (abutments) and attach replacement teeth (pontics) to the crowns to fill the gap. 

Getting a Dental Crown or Bridge

Getting a dental crown or bridge requires two visits to our Maple Ridge dental clinic, where we perform the following steps:

1. Reshape the existing tooth so the crown or bridge will fit properly
2. Take impressions of the tooth that a custom dental lab uses to create your final crown or bridge
3. Select a shade of white for your restoration to match surrounding teeth
4. Place a temporary crown or bridge on the prepared tooth to protect it until your final restoration is ready

When your new crown or bridge is ready, you will return to Maple Ridge Dental Centre for your second appointment. At this time, our dentists will remove your temporary, check the new restoration for fit and comfort, and cement it securely on your tooth. 

Dental bridges and crowns can last a decade or longer when you care for them properly. Be sure to brush twice a day, floss once, and schedule exams and teeth cleanings with us every six months. Avoid chewing on ice or hard or crunchy foods to protect your tooth restoration from damage.

Contact Our Dental Team

Do you have a broken or decayed tooth and think you need a crown? Do you want to replace one or more missing teeth with a bridge so you can smile confidently again? 

The team at Meadow Ridge Dental Centre would love to help you! Please call us to schedule an appointment to get started.