In the Gateway City and surrounding area, Dr. James Maxwell is your expert in the “gateway” to your overall health: your mouth! His approach to dental crowns in St. Louis, MO helps to avoid the complications caused by tooth decay and gum disease. Crowns and other common dental restorations are designed to resolve damage caused by decay and disease. And, furthermore, these two conditions have big implications for not only your smile, but the health of your body, and the quality of your life. So, crowns support a healthy smile – and much more!

Avoid severe oral infections and advanced gum disease

Tooth decay and gum (or periodontal) disease are progressive conditions. The dental crown service is recommended should you have decay that cannot be adequately resolved with a filling or inlay. Additionally, your teeth depend on healthy gum tissue for support. So, as gum disease degrades this supportive tissue, your teeth suffer. Serious gum infections can further destroy surrounding bone, leading to your teeth shifting out of place and becoming loose.

Crowns involve fabricating a toothlike dental material to your specifications and placing that lab-made tooth structure over the prepared, natural tooth. In turn, the treated tooth is protected and restored to its healthy appearance, strength, and durability.

Much has also been made in recent decades of the connection between oral bacteria and bacteria that is present among patients with, for instance, heart disease. Researchers know that bacteria and inflammation do not stay in the mouth; these harmful pathogens and destructive processes can spread to other areas of the body where they wreak havoc on blood vessels, the lungs, and other organs.  

Additionally, Dr. Maxwell uses laser dentistry to clean out decayed areas, and to remove disease-causing bacteria and debris from the pockets between the teeth and gums. This approach to preparing your teeth for restorations is fast, conservative (preserves maximum natural tooth structure), gentle, and promotes natural healing and tissue regeneration.

Avoid tooth loss

As decay works its way through your mouth, or as untreated, periodontal disease further destroys the attachments between your gums and teeth, the integrity of the affected tooth structure becomes vulnerable. A dental crown serves as an excellent restoration choice once required treatment has been performed on the tooth to remove infection and decay. In fact, this may be the only way to “save” teeth that are badly decayed, infected, or otherwise damaged.

Extractions should always be the “last resort.” Missing teeth promote destructive bone loss. Bone resorption, as the process is called, can make it difficult to eat the foods that you need for good nutrition. Additionally, your self-confidence can take a big hit. Resorption affects how you pronounce words, and your facial appearance. Overlying skin and muscle depend on the underlying bone structure for support. When bone height and density are lost, these tissues tend to sag, which can result in a prematurely aged appearance.

Proactive, versatile care

Crowns can help you avoid some of the “worst-case” scenarios listed here, namely, tooth loss; however, Crestwood Dental Group’s attractive and resilient crowns are also a “must” for tooth replacement systems. They are the “finishing touch” when patients replace their teeth with implants. The implant itself is a replacement tooth root, which supports the crown or denture. Crowns are also used in conventional dental bridges; the pontic or replacement tooth is supported by crowned teeth.

Crowns may even be used to cover very worn teeth as a cosmetic treatment. At Crestwood Dental Group, we do not underestimate the power that feeling good about how you look can have on your overall state of mind. Smile transformations often equate to social and workplace transformations, as patients have renewed self-confidence to go after what they want in their personal and professional lives.

Experience the benefits of the advanced, gentle crowns process at the office of Dr. James Maxwell in St. Louis. Call (314) 463-5655 to schedule your visit with Dr. Maxwell today.

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