If you want your smile to be an asset, you need healthy, attractive teeth. When they are cracked, stained damaged or the wrong shape, your teeth detract from your dental health and your appearance, too. To restore them, your best option may be a porcelain crown, veneer, inlay or onlay. These are all variations on a theme.

A crown is a restoration that covers, or caps, a tooth entirely to restore it to its normal shape and size. Its purpose is to strengthen or improve the appearance of a tooth. A veneer is a porcelain cover for the front of a tooth only ( a little bit like attaching a false fingernail over your own nail).

Inlays and onlays are 'partial crowns' which are used on back teeth (molars and premolars) where the tooth needs more than an ordinary filling can achieve, but doesn't need to be fully covered by a crown.

Crowns, Venners, Inlays and Onlays are placed for a number of reasons:

• to support a large filling when there isn't enough tooth remaining
• to attach a bridge
• to protect weak teeth from fracturing
• to restore fractured teeth or teeth that have had root canal treatment
• to cover badly shaped or discoloured teeth
• to restore a dental implant

One of our main goals is to create crowns and veneers that look like natural teeth. To achieve this, a number of factors are considered such as the colour, occlusion or "bite", shape and length of both your natural teeth and the artificial crown. Any one of these factors alone can significantly affect your appearance. A number of different materials can be used to produce a crown, and these will be discussed with you at the time of treatment planning.

If you have a certain look in mind for your crown, discuss it with us at your initial appointment. When the procedure is complete, your teeth may not only be stronger but they may be the attractive feature of your face - your crowning glory!