Most dental work looks at the tooth that hurts. Prosthodontics looks at the whole mouth: how the two jaws meet, how much height has been lost, what shows when you speak and when you smile, what the muscles and joints can take. What happens to each individual tooth follows from that — not the other way round.
This page is about the work done on your own teeth: inlays, crowns, bridges, full rehabilitations. Where teeth are missing and support has to come from the bone, the conversation moves to implants; often the plan combines both.
The rule is simple and does not change: anything meant to last for years is tested first. The final result is built as a provisional, you wear it, eat and speak with it, and only what worked becomes definitive.
When a back tooth has lost a large piece, the whole tooth does not always have to be cut down. A ceramic piece is made for exactly that defect and bonded into it, keeping as much of the tooth as possible.
When not: when what remains are thin walls that will split under chewing. There a crown is the safe choice, not the excessive one.
A crown covers the tooth and holds it together. It is needed mainly on teeth that have fractured, that carry large old fillings, or that have had root canal treatment. Its margin is placed with respect for the gum, so no dark line ever appears.
When not: when the tooth stands up with less. A crown on a tooth that does not need one is tooth structure that never comes back.
A missing tooth can be carried by the two beside it, if those already need restoring anyway. A bridge is fixed, it is done quickly, and it needs no surgery.
When not: when the neighbouring teeth are sound and untouched. Then an implant is the right answer — two healthy teeth are not cut down to replace one.
Heavy wear, a face height that has dropped, old work that is all reaching its end together. The entire set is designed again — where the teeth meet, how long they are, what shows — and built in stages you can follow.
When not: while the cause is still active. If grinding or acid reflux is ongoing, that is dealt with first — otherwise the new work wears out exactly like the old.
At the front of the mouth the question is how the teeth look. At the back it is how they hold. The same restoration lasts decades or breaks in two years depending on where the force falls every time you close your mouth.
That is why how your jaw actually moves is measured first — and why the provisional is not decoration. It is the test: if something interferes, we find it there, while a change costs a few minutes rather than a whole piece of work.
Four things decide whether the work will hold.
You wear the designed result for weeks or months before anything definitive is made. You eat, speak and sleep with it. Whatever does not work is changed at this stage.
When teeth have worn for years, the face shortens slightly. That height can be given back — but it is tested in the provisional first, because the muscles need time to accept it.
Where the restoration ends and the tooth begins is the point that decides both health and appearance. It is placed so it can be cleaned easily and never shows a line, and it is captured digitally.
Every full rehabilitation is delivered with a night guard. It is not optional: it is what wears down instead of your ceramics, and it is replaced far more cheaply.
Photographs, scans, a 3D X-ray where needed, and a record of how the jaw actually moves. Nothing is prepared at this visit.
The new tooth positions and, where needed, the new height are designed before any tooth is touched — and you see them on screen.
Weeks or months with the designed result. Whatever does not work is changed here, cheaply.
The definitive restorations copy a provisional you have already approved — so the last appointment holds no surprises.