Fillings, Crowns, Bridges & Dentures in Johns Creek, GA

Teeth get cavities, crack, wear down and sometimes go missing. Restorative dentistry is the set of repairs that put them back to work. The right one depends on how much tooth is left: a small cavity gets a filling, a badly broken tooth gets a crown, a missing tooth gets a bridge, an implant or a denture. Whatever we recommend, we'll explain the alternatives and lean toward the least invasive option that will actually last.

Tooth-colored fillings

A filling repairs a tooth with decay, a small chip or crack, or worn edges. We use composite, a resin matched to the color of your tooth, so the repair blends in. Composite also bonds to the tooth, which lets us remove less healthy structure than an old silver filling would need.

A filling can usually be done in a single visit. We numb the tooth, remove the decay, clean and prepare the space, and if the cavity was close to the nerve, put a protective liner down first. The composite goes in in layers, each hardened with a light, then it's shaped to your bite and polished. Some sensitivity to hot and cold for a week or two afterward is normal. Fillings last for years, but they do wear, and we check them at every exam.

Crowns

A crown is a cap that covers the whole tooth above the gumline. It's what we use when there isn't enough solid tooth left for a filling to hold: a large or failing filling, a fracture, heavy decay, or a tooth that's had a root canal and needs protecting from splitting. Crowns can also reshape a tooth for cosmetic reasons. Porcelain crowns are the most common choice because they're strong and match the surrounding teeth.

A crown usually takes two visits. At the first, we numb the tooth, remove decay and old filling material, and shape the tooth so the crown will fit over it. We take impressions for the lab and make a temporary crown to wear in the meantime, usually about two weeks. At the second, the temporary comes off, the new crown is checked for fit and bite, and it's cemented in place.

Empress metal-free restorations

For crowns, inlays and onlays where appearance matters, we use pressed ceramic such as Empress. It's a glass ceramic with no metal substructure, so there's no gray line at the gum and it can be made to look like natural enamel. The lab matches it to the shade of your teeth, and we pick the ceramic to suit where the tooth is and how hard it works. Inlays and onlays, which are lab-made pieces fitted into or over a damaged tooth, are a good middle ground between a filling and a full crown, and in Empress ceramic they're nearly invisible. They're also a common choice for replacing large old silver fillings.

Bridges

A bridge replaces one or more missing teeth with a fixed piece that's cemented in, so it doesn't come out. The teeth on each side of the gap get crowns, and the replacement tooth (or teeth) is joined to them. Besides filling the gap, a bridge keeps the neighboring teeth from drifting and the opposing tooth from over-erupting into the space, and it brings chewing and speech back to normal. It can also suit someone who'd prefer a fixed replacement to a removable partial and has solid teeth on either side to support it.

Like a crown, it's two or more visits: prepare the anchor teeth, take impressions, wear a temporary bridge while the lab makes the permanent one, then fit and cement it. We sometimes cement a bridge temporarily first to make sure your bite and gums are happy with it before making it permanent. Flossing under a bridge takes a floss threader or a water flosser; we'll show you how.

Dentures and partials

Dentures replace missing teeth with a removable appliance. A complete denture replaces all the teeth in an upper or lower arch. A partial replaces several teeth and clips to the ones you still have, which also keeps those teeth from shifting. Modern dentures are made to look like your natural teeth and can genuinely improve how your face looks, not just how you chew.

Making them takes several appointments over a few weeks: impressions and measurements, then one or more try-in visits to get the shape, color and fit right, then the final fitting and adjustment. If all your teeth are being removed, you can choose a conventional denture, made after the gums have healed for four to six weeks, or an immediate denture, made ahead of time and placed the same day the teeth come out so you're never without teeth. Immediate dentures need relining as the gums shrink during healing.

Expect some soreness, extra saliva and awkwardness eating and talking at first. It usually settles as your mouth adjusts; if a sore spot doesn't, come in and we'll adjust the fit. Dentures last for years but will need relining, repair or remaking over time, and they should still come with a yearly exam so we can check your gums.

Which option is right for me?

It depends on which teeth are involved, what's around them, your bite, your budget and what your plan covers. Come in for an exam and we'll lay out the choices with their trade-offs. Call (770) 609-1281 or text us to book at our Johns Creek office. We're in network with several PPO plans; see our insurance page for details.