Crowns are often referred to as "caps". It is like putting a new "top" on a tooth.  They are used when the restoration needed  is too large to use a white composite filling. Crowns are made from a porcelain material that is much stronger than the composite fillings and therefore holds up much better to chewing pressure. As far as "altering" the tooth, the tooth is  shaped removing any decay or cracks and any old filling material. The end result should look like a beautiful natural tooth that hasn't had anything done to it. There is a "full crown" which completely covers the existing tooth and comes down to the gums on all sides, or a "partial crown" which is more conservative and only replaces the defective part of the natural tooth. It is always a good idea to be as conservative as possible and keep as much of the natural tooth as you can. There is a technology available that uses  Cad Cam technology allowing your dentist to design and make the crown on site. The benefit of this technology is the proceedure can be finished in one appointment rather than having to send it out to a lab to be made requiring a 2nd appointment. The end result is also a stronger and more beautiful natural looking tooth.

Depending on how much your gums are exposed when you smile, a gum lift can erase a patients gummy smile and give them the confidence they need to show off those big pearly whites. These procedures are typically done with local anesthesia to make you comfortable and sometimes coupled with fillers to give the patient a fuller lip thus eliminating the gummy smile.

This is still a subject that is in research but theoretically stem cells can be saved from extracted teeth and banked for future use to regenerate diseased cells and tissue in the mouth and body. Stem cells are cells that have not yet evolved into specific cells (i.e., skin cells, liver cells) They can be extracted from bone marrow and the umbilical cord and stored for future use. These procedures can be expensive and in the case of bone marrow - invasive. Teeth that have to be extracted anyway have been found to also be a rich source. The advantage is if a person receives their own stem cells and avoids the rejection issue that can be a problem with stem cells from a donor. Talk to your dental professional and ask them if they are a Stem Save provider to take advantage of your extracted teeth

There are really 3 types of procedures one can do to replace missing teeth. The first is a removable partial or full denture. There are many problems that occur from the wearing of a denture that will eventually cause the patient to stop wearing it or have to replace or repair it. The second option is a traditional bridge that is fixed in the mouth. This was the gold standard for many years but the problems with these are one has to usually sacrifice 2 good teeth in order for the bridge to fit over the missing tooth or teeth. Also, the lifespan of a bridge is around 15 years. The third option is a dental implant. This has become the new gold standard for missing teeth. The benefits are it is fixed, no adjacent teeth are sacrificed and once the implant is integrated you can expect it to last a lifetime. There is almost nothing that prevents you from being a candidate nowadays so check with your dental professional!

Patients often ask me if they can still get a cavity on a tooth even if they have a crown placed on it? The answer is YES. If a crown is poorly fabricated and does not fit properly bacteria can invade the open margin and produce a cavity underneath the crown. Also, some of the older cements that were used to cement crowns will become soluble in your saliva with time and eventually wash out causing an open margin and again allowing bacteria to invade underneath the crown and cause a cavity. With the more modern adhesives that are on the market today we don’t cement crowns anymore but instead are bonding crowns to a tooth which has a much better seal on the tooth and decreases the chance of recurrent decay. Lastly, the fit of crowns is so important that with todays technology using digital dentistry we can fabricate a crown using a computer in the same day.  The crown is better fitting, stronger, and more aestheticly pleasing!