Services
The department is part of the Clinic for Dental, Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases. Patients can go there for tooth restorations, for example in cases of tooth decay or if a piece of a tooth has broken off. Usually, a direct restoration in the mouth can be done using a filling material. However, sometimes an indirect restoration is necessary or better for the prognosis of your tooth. In that case, the restoration is made outside the mouth in the lab and thus several appointments are needed to restore your tooth.
The department also performs aesthetic treatments such as masking discoloured teeth or teeth whitening.
Direct restorations
A tooth can be subject to tissue loss during its functional life. That tooth tissue loss can have several causes:
- Caries: a frequent dental disease in which bacteria produce acids that attack the tooth and cause cavities to form. Caries is often the result of poor oral hygiene, due to a lack of tooth brushing.
- Trauma: an accident while working, playing or playing sports can result in part of the tooth breaking off.
- Wear: wear has several causes such as excessive brushing with a hard toothbrush (abrasion), dissolution by acids from the stomach or food (erosion/corrosion), functional habits such as nail biting and grinding (attrition) or excessive bending of the teeth (abfraction).
Tooth tissue loss can lead to functional and aesthetic complaints, which can be solved by a restoration. Minor loss of tooth tissue can often be replaced with a direct restoration. This means that the dentist applies a filling immediately in the mouth. Today, tooth coloured filling materials (composites) are used, which are bonded to the remaining tooth tissue (adhesive restorations). By bonding the filling the dentist has to remove less sound tooth material (minimally, invasive preparation techniques), which benefits the long-term prognosis of the tooth.
In addition, some patients are dissatisfied with the appearance of their teeth (discolouration, misalignment, abnormal shape,...). Direct restorations may help to correct the esthetic appearance in a simple and often reversible way.
Indirect restorations
The initial examination
During the first visit, a comprehensive oral examination takes place and radiographs are taken. This examination is intended to create an overall view in order to choose the best treatment strategy. Data on previous medical and dental treatments, general and specific dental complaints, and the patient's expectations towards treatment are collected.
Based on the examination and radiographs, the patient is informed about the state of his or her teeth, the individual risks, and the necessary specific dental treatments. The initial examination is completed by providing an individual treatment plan.
Situations in which indirect restorations are indicated
Teeth with extensive decay cannot always be restored by fillings.
Reasons for this are:
- Insufficient healthy tooth tissue, which makes the placement or bonding of conventional filling materials impossible or gives an unfavourable prognosis
- Too much tooth damage, which complicates correct restoration of the original tooth shape with conventional filling techniques
- Aesthetic problems, as a result of trauma or congenital tooth discolouration, for example.
- The absence of one or more teeth in the dental arch.
In the above cases, however, the teeth can be restored with dental lab-made restorations.
Partial tooth restorations, crowns and bridges
There are different forms of indirect restorations. Which form is chosen depends mainly on the amount of tissue loss, the tooth position or the number of missing teeth to be replaced.
Partial tooth restoration
Partial tooth restorations restore only the part of the tooth that was lost and partially encompass the tooth. Depending on the tooth surface (or multiple tooth surfaces) where the restoration is located, they are called a 'facing' or 'facet' (a thin shield covering the front of the tooth), an 'inlay' (is very similar to a dental filling without involving dental cusps) or an 'onlay' (an 'inlay' where one or more dental cusps are replaced).
Crowns
Crowns are full tooth restorations in which the tooth in the mouth is completely ground down and covered.
Bridges
Bridges are multi-piece and fixed structures that replace one or more teeth. In a classic bridge, both teeth adjacent to the edentulous area are ground down like a crown. The bridge section then includes an artificial tooth that is attached to both neighbouring crowns, made in the dental lab.
Aftercare
After placing the indirect restoration, the patient himself is responsible for the maintenance of the teeth and restoration. The patient is supported in this and receives detailed instructions for good oral hygiene and correct handling of the newly placed restoration. Crucial to this is efficient daily removal of plaque and food debris to prevent oral infections and having the teeth checked regularly. After all, conditions such as tooth decay or gum disease can affect the high-quality restorations and also the tooth on which they are placed.