Time is an enemy to dental work, and there are a lot of factors that affect the lifespan of dental restorations including the size, location, and type.We place a lot of demand on dental restorations, and they will wear down over time. In the case of a filling, for example, stress over a period of many years can minimize its effectiveness. This can result in what we call secondary decay around the filling. Additional restoration weakens the original filling, and at some point, we may need to discuss the possibility of placing a crown to protect the tooth.Other factors that can affect the durability of your restorations include injuries like those suffered during sports and dental problems like chronic teeth grinding (bruxism). Both contribute to the wear or damage of a dental filling and reduce its lifespan, making replacement necessary.We recommend all of our patients come in twice a year for a dental cleaning and exam. At these appointments, we check all the teeth and can often catch problems when they are small and easier to treat. If we detect other problems like bruxism, we can create a customized night guard that protects your teeth while you sleep.If it’s time for your routine checkup or you have concerns about a particular restoration, please call Advanced Dental Care!

You can be confident that the team at Advanced Dental Care will always recommend the most conservative treatment option for your individual needs. Dental fillings and crowns both play an essential part in protecting your smile and keeping it healthy and functional. But they are not interchangeable procedures. In general, Dr. Young recommends a crown when more than half the tooth is compromised. This can be the result of decay, cracking, excessive wear from grinding, or dental injury. A crown is a restoration that offers full coverage of a tooth and protects it in a way that a filling can’t. If we attempt to put a filling in a tooth that requires a crown, we put the tooth at even greater risk because a filling that is too large will cause the tooth to break. Unfortunately, when this happens, the tooth is often no longer savable and will need to be removed. Please call our Winter Springs dental office to learn more about our beautiful, durable crowns.

This all depends on the situation. In certain situations a bridge may make more sense. For example, if teeth adjacent to the missing tooth/teeth have decay, need crowns, have compromised bone, or if finances are an issue than a dental bridge would most likely be the better solution. If the teeth adjacent to the missing tooth/teeth are free from decay and existing restorations and there is adequate bone than a dental implant would typically be the most advisable course of treatment. 

There are several factors that can dictate how many teeth a bridge can replace. Generally, it depends on the location. For a front bridge in the front of the mouth we can typically replace up to four missing teeth. For a bridge in the back of the mouth we can usually replace up to two teeth. This is also dependent on the anchor teeth having adequate bone to support the missing teeth/tooth.

There are different benefits and advantages to each so it really depends on what is important to you. A partial is a removable appliance that replaces missing teeth. A bridge is cemented in permanently. While a bridge is more expensive than a partial, it functions more like natural teeth since it is cemented in place.