Restore Your Smile with Top-Quality Dental Restorations in Tuscaloosa
At The Smile Design Center, we’re happy to provide comprehensive restorative dental services to families and individuals throughout Tuscaloosa and the surrounding areas. Restorative care is a branch of dentistry centered on regenerating the health and function of your smile after tooth decay, injury, loss, or infection.
Whether you're missing one tooth or many, we're here to provide you with the quality treatments you need to restore your smile once more. Our caring dentists will carefully examine your smile and listen to your oral health needs, goals, and concerns to provide you with the best possible solutions for renewing dental wellness. Our restorative services can help:
- Correct broken chipped, cracked, or decayed teeth
- Repair or replace failed or damaged restorations
- Replace missing teeth
- Reinstate proper chewing
- Improve jaw and bite alignment
Gain the confidence you need to talk, eat, and laugh easily again! Call or visit The Smile Design Center today. Dr. Christopher Taylor, Dr. Brant Gentry, and their experienced team look forward to helping you enjoy a healthy smile for many years to come!
CALL US: (205) 750-8008 REQUEST APPOINTMENT
Why Do I Need A Restoration?
If you are experiencing a painful, consistent toothache, have an infection, or have a broken or cracked tooth, you will need restorative services to regain essential function and health. We use conservative options whenever possible, to save any existing healthy tooth structure. The goal is to keep your natural teeth as long as possible using innovative procedures and techniques.
During your bi-annual appointments, we examine any existing restorations to help detect potential problems early. When we can detect a crown loosening or a crack forming under a filling, we can restore it before more severe damage occurs. Correcting small issues with simple restorations will save you time and money by helping you avoid complex treatments in the future.
Our Comprehensive Services for Restorative Care
We offer a variety of safe, reliable restorative treatments. By only using body-safe materials such as ceramic, porcelain, and white composites, we can make sure that each procedure is good for your smile and your entire body.
Tooth Replacement Options
Today, patients have numerous options to replace missing teeth. Dental crowns, bridges, and dentures all have their benefits, but dental implants are favored by both dentists and patients because they look and function just like natural teeth and require no specialized continued care.
If you have lost a tooth or several, it is important to explore your options as soon as possible. Over time, neighboring teeth can move into the gap left by a lost tooth, causing bite and alignment problems. Leaving a gap empty without replacing the tooth can also result in bone loss and impact your overall facial structure.
The modern dental restorations of today are better than ever, and they can offer you a beautiful smile with a properly functioning bite. Dental implants are permanent, secure, and highly-successful tooth replacement treatments to restore one tooth, several missing teeth, or a full arch. Implants can be combined with different prosthetics for a full menu of tooth replacement options.
Implant-supported crowns: substitute a single tooth with crowns. They are stand-alone, seamlessly filling the gap.
Implant-supported bridges: are used to replace one to several teeth and have two implants to support them. Without compromising nearby teeth, they can restore your bite.
Implant-supported dentures: offer a stable and natural-looking arch of artificial teeth that do not move or restrict diet. With dentures supported by implants, we can completely replace the upper and lower arches of your smile. It may take anywhere from four to six implants posts to support your dentures properly.
Benefits of Implant-Supported Restorations
Many patients choose dental implants because they have a proven success rate of 95-98 percent and can be cost-effective over a lifetime. The top five benefits of restorations supported by implants include:
- Protect the position of your bite
- Prevent teeth from shifting
- Prevent pre-maturely aged appearance caused by bone loss
- Protect jaw bone density
- Restore chewing and speaking abilities
Who is a Good Candidate for Dental Implants?
A good candidate for dental implants is anyone who has one or more teeth missing and wants a superior, long-lasting aesthetic solution. The main requirement is that you must have enough bone density and volume to sustain and stabilize an implant.
Some people who have experienced bone loss due to gum disease or another condition may need preliminary procedures like bone grafting or gum disease treatment before receiving dental implant placement.
What Can I Expect When Getting Dental Implants
The dental implant post, which is made of titanium, is surgically placed in the jawbone, at the site of the missing tooth. Implants replace the root of the tooth and provide the foundation for a stable dental restoration. After surgery, a healing period is needed to allow the bone to start fusing with the biocompatible post.
The next step is to position a custom restoration on top of the implant post. Your implant restoration may be a dental crown, a bridge, or a full or partial denture, depending on how many teeth were missing and their location. Every restorative treatment is tailored to you and designed to provide optimal form and function.
Do I Need a Filling or Crown?
Most people will experience a dental filling at some point in their life. Fillings restore the tooth by replacing decayed areas and allowing for the preservation of its structure. Dental crowns are used when the damage can’t be repaired by a filling alone. A crown is often needed when teeth suffer advanced decay and fractures to protect it from further harm or infection.
Using the Versatility of Crowns to Your Benefit
Crowns can tackle a broad range of dental problems and restore bite function. Their versatility helps make them useful for many different restoration treatments. Dental crowns can be used to:
- Restore worn or weak enamel
- Replace a single missing tooth with an implant
- Protect a treated tooth after root canal therapy
- Repair dental chips, cracks, and other damage
- Restore dental aesthetics
What are Dentures and Partial Dentures?
Dentures are prosthetic devices intended to substitute a whole arch of missing teeth in the lower or upper jaw, or both. While dentures take some time getting used to and never feel completely the same as natural teeth, today's modern dentures are more natural and comfortable than ever.
A partial denture is a removable dental appliance that helps substitute one or more missing teeth to restore your jaw's shape and function. Partial dentures are made from a combination of metal and acrylic, which gives your bite the strength it needs for optimal chewing and speaking while also looking natural.
Full dentures, which are also removable, restore dental function, and renew a natural smile. To secure dentures to the gums, a dental adhesive is used to keep them in place throughout the day.
When Would I Need a Partial Denture?
If one or more teeth are missing, it can lead to an improper bite. Neighboring teeth may shift to compensate for the "gap" in your smile, and you may experience soft tissue shrinkage near your missing teeth as well as in the jawbone. This can change your facial structure and cause issues with your other teeth.
A partial denture provides support to your gums and facial muscles. Partials help stop further movement of neighboring teeth while providing you a natural, full smile.
Dental Bridges Restore Form and Function
If you have a missing tooth or one that is significantly decayed or broken and is not sufficiently stable to carry a dental crown alone, we may have suggested a dental bridge as a restoration alternative. A dental bridge is a collection of prosthetic teeth that create a bridge over the area where teeth are missing.
With a traditional dental bridge, a false tooth, also known as a "pontic," is connected to a dental crown on either side, which is secured to the neighboring teeth. The pontic remains safely attached with a metal bridge to the crowns on either side, literally bridging the gap between the open space.
Dental bridges restore your smile and help maintain correct chewing and biting function. A full set of teeth make it easier to speak and help maintain your facial structure. They also prevent neighboring teeth from moving or drifting into the gap.
Smile with Confidence
Traditional restorations, as well as those retained by dental implants, are an excellent way to restore your confidence and ensure long-lasting oral health. Dr. Taylor and Dr. Gentry offer traditional and implant-supported restorations at our Tuscaloosa dental practice for anyone seeking to replace missing teeth and rehabilitate their smile. Contact The Smile Design Center to schedule your appointment to achieve a healthier smile today!
CALL US: (205) 750-8008 REQUEST APPOINTMENT
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