A crown is a tooth-shaped cover placed over a tooth that is badly damaged or decayed. A crown is made to look like your tooth. Many people call it a CAP.

Crowns may be placed for several reasons. Usually the tooth has been broken or damaged a great deal by decay. As a result, a filling can't replace enough of the tooth or make the tooth strong enough. A crown may hold together parts of a cracked tooth. It also can be used to hold a bridge in place. Crowns can be used to improve appearance as well. They may be placed to cover misshapen or badly discolored teeth.

At Smile Ray we give wide choice to patient to select the kind of crown. The most popular being porcelain fused to metal shell (PFM) for front as well as back teeth. Pure ceramic is esthetically more pleasing, so it's the first choice for people who like to go for complete natural looks. PFM and all-ceramic crowns are the tooth colored, but pure ceramic is more cosmetically appealing and pleasent. Pure ceramic crowns can be of 3M ESPE's LavaT Zirconia, e.max and Nobel Procera.

Bridge

A fixed denture made to replace one or more missing teeth. Bridges can be supported by natural teeth, implants or a combination of teeth and implants.

A bridge may be recommended if you're missing one or more teeth. Gaps left by missing teeth eventually cause the remaining teeth to rotate or shift into the empty spaces, resulting in a bad bite. The imbalance caused by missing teeth can also lead to gum disease and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders.

Bridges are commonly used to replace one or more missing teeth. Bridges are cemented to the natural teeth or implants surrounding the empty space. As with crowns, you have a choice of materials for bridges. Your dentist can help you decide which to use, based on the location of the missing tooth (or teeth), its function, aesthetic considerations and cost. Porcelain or ceramic bridges can be matched to the color of your natural teeth.

Both crowns and most bridges are fixed prosthetic devices. Unlike removable devices such as dentures, which you can take out and clean daily, crowns and bridges are cemented onto existing teeth or implants, and can only be removed by a dentist.