Do I Need a Dental Crown or a Veneer?

There are a variety of dental treatments available to improve not only the aesthetics of your smile but the sustained health of your teeth. Depending on the extent of damage to your enamel, the overall health of the tooth, and your smile goals choosing between a dental crown and a veneer can be difficult. At the dental practice of James T. White, we provide both options to ensure our patients receive the treatments they need. Below is a guide to choosing between a dental crown or a porcelain veneer.

Teeth can become discolored as well due to consuming certain highly pigmented foods and drinks.

Dental Crowns for Healthy, Strong Teeth

Over time, dental enamel becomes thinner and more susceptible to decay and damage. If a cavity has developed and is left untreated, the health of your smile is at risk. A dental crown is used after the decay has been removed. This restoration allows for the tooth to be protected from further damage and restores the structure. Restorative treatment can ensure a tooth lasts far longer and appears healthy. Porcelain crowns add the benefit of encompassing the entire tooth. Crowns can restore the entire structure, and with shade matching the porcelain, can ensure the restoration blends seamlessly with the rest of the teeth.

Veneers for Achieving Uniform, White Smile

At our practice, we offer aesthetically pleasing porcelain for aesthetic restorations. Porcelain veneers are a great option for patients who may have damaged the structure of a tooth due to trauma, but the tooth is otherwise healthy. Dental veneers can create a new surface that is shaped to fit the specific look you desire. However, veneers do not protect against decay as crowns do.

Conservative Treatment

It is important to consider the extent of treatment needed for an individual tooth. Crowns are used specifically to treat extensive decay and are considered a treatment focusing on the sustained health of a natural tooth through the removal of affected enamel. Applying dental veneers requires the alteration of tooth surfaces, but preserves the majority of the dental structure. While veneers are superficial, crowns ensure the treated tooth is whole and durable over time.

Aesthetic Restorations for a Beautiful Smile

Dr. James T. White and Dr. David C. Yongue are ready to answer any questions on choosing between a veneer or a crown. To schedule a visit, contact our practice today!

Dental Implants vs. Partials and Bridges

There are many ways of replacing missing teeth after tooth loss due to injury or decay, with partial dentures and bridges being two of the many traditional avenues to take. Partial dentures and bridges are cost-effective, which is why many patients are inclined to choose this treatment, and can replace one or several missing teeth in a non-invasive manner. However, while partial dentures and bridges may present a viable teeth replacement solution at the outset, patient should weigh all of their treatment options before selecting what will work best for them.

Dental implants provide a modern and long-lasting alternative to bridge and denture prosthetics that many patients find an attractive treatment option.

Implants vs. Partial Dentures

Getting a partial denture is a simple treatment process that involves taking a mold of your existing teeth so that a replacement tooth or teeth can be created and attached to a metal housing. Patients wear partial dentures like a retainer -- when inserted, the faux teeth align with gaps in your smile to give the appearance of natural teeth.

However, partial dentures do not contribute to improved oral function. Partial dentures can also cause damage to existing teeth over time, as the metal housing exerts force or pressure on healthy dental enamel. Dental implants stand out in contrast, however, by serving as independent teeth replacements that are not removable and help patients regain renewed oral function after treatment.

Implants vs. Fixed Dental Bridges

Bridges provide improvements in function and stability over partial dentures, as they are dental prosthetics that are cemented in place. In general, dental bridges are very long lasting, but they may need to be replaced at some point, due to general wear and tear. While this is normal, it does require that patients receive an all-new dental bridge. Dental implants, however, do not require the same kind of long-term maintenance.

If your implant prosthetic becomes worn down over time, the entire implant itself will not need to be replaced. Utilizing dental implants also does not require that healthy teeth be altered in any way.

Implant Questions? Contact our Office

If you have missing teeth and are debating treatment options for rejuvenating your smile, contact our Berkeley implant dentists for more information. We offer a variety of implant restoration options to ensure that your new smile is aesthetically pleasing and that your new teeth are long-lasting.
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How to Ensure that your Dental Crowns Last and Look Beautiful

Restoring teeth in a way that meets patients’ goals for attractive and long-lasting dental care requires careful consideration. While practicing effective oral hygiene at-home and avoiding bad habits that can damage your teeth are essential to making sure your dental crowns last for a lifetime, selecting the best method of restoring your smile starts with our dental office.

Considering Your Needs

Location of Damaged Teeth:  Planning for a crown starts with evaluating the location of teeth in your smile that need to be treated. Molars take a lot of pressure from chewing force and therefore must be restored in a way that can support this continual use, without cracking or breaking the restoration. While crowns placed on molars are made to look life-like, they are not located in your smile zone and do not come with the aesthetic scrutiny that front teeth may get. Anterior teeth, or front teeth, that need crowns must therefore be restored in a way that mimics real dental enamel as closely as possible.

Oral Health Habits: Teeth grinding is a common habit that can damage teeth, requiring that they be restored with a crown. However, providing the best restoration possible means finding a way to prevent similar damage to the crown itself. Other bad habits, such as chewing on hard, inedible items (such as pen caps and fingernails) can damage real teeth and prosthetics.

By taking all of these factors into consideration to build your treatment plan, materials can then be selected that will help limit future wear and tear and look as seamless as possible.

Materials Used for Longevity and Function

Porcelain Fused to Metal - A base of metal with a layer of white or tooth-colored porcelain has long been considered the sturdiest of treatment options. For many patients, PFM crowns are utilized on back teeth, as they provide lasting biting and chewing function, without wearing down as quickly as other, less durable restorative materials.

All-Porcelain - More commonly used in cosmetic restorations, utilizing a dental crown with pure porcelain elements helps achieve a more natural-looking restoration that matches the appearance of natural dental enamel. All-porcelain crowns are excellent choices for anterior teeth in your smile line.

Zirconia - Providing the best of both words, Zirconia is a glass-ceramic combination that matches the luminous quality of your own teeth and is exceptionally strong. Zirconia crowns can be used for patients who are interested in maximum cosmetic appeal and who may be hard on their teeth.

At James T. White, DDS, we work to ensure that your dental crowns provide best possible results for improvements in dental function and are as long-lasting as they are attractive. To learn more about what’s involved in your crown restoration treatment, contact our Berkeley dental office.

How Preventive Care Keeps Your Smile Healthy

Most everyone understands that they need to visit a dentist twice a year, but few take time to think about the importance of routine teeth cleanings and frequent dental visits. Many patients take routine procedures like fillings and crowns to be standard and no cause for concern, but the truth is that needing restorative treatment signals the presence of decay. Preventive dental procedures help to minimize the need for these restorations, so your teeth are healthier for life.

Services that Help Save your Teeth

The foundation of preventive dental care is routine dental office visits, where hygienists clean your teeth, check for signs of periodontal disease, and take x-rays to keep an eye on potential health complications.  Other essential preventive services are:

• Root Scaling and Planing
• Topical Fluoride
• Prescription Strength Fluoride Toothpaste

With root scaling and planning, beginning stages of gum disease can be managed to prevent the development of deep pockets below the gum line. The longer these pockets are left untreated, the higher the likelihood that patients will experience loosening of teeth and lack of foundational support from healthy gum tissue.

To strengthen teeth and protect enamel from decay, patients can also benefit from application of topical fluoride during dental appointments, and the use of at-home extra strength oral care products. When used in conjunction, these treatments can help to stop disease and decay in its tracks and allow your teeth to better ward off bacteria.

Doing Your Part at Home

While visiting the dentist is absolutely essential for your dental health, decay and disease cannot be properly kept at bay unless you are taking care of your teeth at home. Flossing is shrugged off as one of those things that no one does, but neglecting to floss between teeth leaves a whole side of your tooth that isn’t getting cleaned. Worse yet, the spaces between teeth provide bacteria and debris with a great place to hide, opening the door for tooth decay.

You can avoid all of this however, by taking time to brush and floss properly. Dr. White and Dr. Yongue help teach all patients the correct strategy for brushing and flossing at home. If you can protect your teeth from damage, you can avoid the need for costly restorations and further decay.
For more information on how you can keep your teeth healthy, contact our Berkeley dental office.

Welcome To Our Blog

We're excited to announce the official launch of our James T. White, DDS. blog.

We'll be posting helpful dental tips, news from the dental industry, news from our practice, and more about the latest in dentistry.

We built our practice on the notion that we're there for our patients when they need us and we want our online presence to be a reflection of that principle. We hope this blog provides an extra level of service to our current and future patients.

If you would like to stay up to date on the latest from James T. White, DDS, simply click the RSS “Subscribe to feed” link located on our website and subscribe. Our subscribers will be updated when we make a new blog post.

Here's to your best oral health ever!