Prosthodontics is an area of cosmetic dentistry devoted to dental prosthesis such as bridges, crowns, and dentures. There are two main categories of dental prosthesis: fixed or removable. Your dentist can use a few different fixed prosthodontics to correct mild to severe cracks in your teeth. The end result will be a stable, fairly natural-looking adjustment to your smile.

Here are three of the cosmetic dentistry fixed dental prosthodontics that might be used to fix your cracked teeth.

Dental Crown

A dental crown can cover mild to severe cracking as long as the tooth isn't completely dead. Damaged pulp due to cracking can be treated using a root canal procedure before placing the crown, but that procedure won't provide much help if the canal is broken or the roots necrotic.

For a dental crown, your dentist will create a mold of your damaged tooth then use that mold to craft a tooth-colored artificial shell. The exterior of your natural tooth is sanded down lightly and then covered with a bonding agent. The crown shell then slips over the tooth and adheres to the bonding agent, which will make sure the crown remains fixed.

Crowns are available in metals, porcelain, and metal-backed porcelain. The latter option provides a blend of strength and natural appearance since porcelain alone can be prone to cracking and metal alone is obviously artificial.

Due to how much tooth a crown covers, this method is best for cracking that covers a large portion of the tooth and therefore couldn't be treated with either a filling or a dental veneer.

Dental Veneer

A dental veneer is made of porcelain and crafted from a mold to fit your tooth. The main difference from a crown is that the veneer is a cap that only covers the very front-facing part of your natural tooth. Veneers, like crowns, are attached to a sanded-down tooth with a bonding agent.

Veneers can be a better choice than crowns if you have surface cracking or a cracking-induced chip on the front section of your tooth.

Post-Extraction Bridge

A cracked tooth that has caused necrosis might need to be extracted and replaced with an artificial tooth. A dental bridge is a fixed option that works particularly well if there are neighboring teeth that need crowns for existing minimal damage.

Dental bridges include a crown on each end with a false tooth hanging in the center. The false tooth will reside in the hole made by your extraction. If the extracted tooth is your rearmost molar, you can get a bridge that includes the two crowns ahead of the false tooth so that you can still have the same level of support.