Rebuilding broken-down teeth and spanning gaps, matched in shade to your own teeth, over two planned visits with the cost agreed before the first.
Family Dental Care Missouri provides dental crowns and bridges at 1010 Walnut St, Suite 280, downtown Kansas City, usually over two visits with a temporary in between, shade-matched to your teeth and priced in writing before treatment. Call (816) 439-7715.
Reviewed by Dr. Navkiran Warya, DDS - August 2026
Two jobsA crown is the answer when a tooth is still worth saving but no longer strong enough to save itself: heavily broken down, cracked, or hollow after root canal treatment. It covers the whole tooth and takes the biting force. A bridge answers a different problem, a missing tooth, by anchoring a replacement to crowned teeth either side of the gap. A gap left alone is not neutral: neighbors drift into it and the opposing tooth over-erupts, which is why the replacement conversation, bridge, partial denture or implant, is worth having early and without pressure.
| Visit | What happens | You leave with |
|---|---|---|
| Exam | X-rays, options, written cost | A plan and a price |
| Visit one | Tooth shaped under local anesthetic, precise impression, shade chosen | A temporary crown or bridge |
| In between | The final restoration is custom made | Around two weeks with the temporary |
| Visit two | Fit, bite and shade checked, then cemented | The finished crown or bridge |
The crown itself does not decay, but the margin where it meets your tooth can, and the anchor teeth of a bridge work harder than they used to. So the maintenance is unglamorous and decisive: brushing along the gumline, cleaning under a bridge with a threader or interdental brush, wearing a night guard if you grind, and the six-month exam that catches margin trouble while it is still a small fix. A crown that gets that care routinely serves ten years and more; one that does not, does not. If a crown ever comes off, keep it and see the emergency page, because re-cementing the original is often possible if you come in promptly.
A crown rebuilds one damaged tooth: it is a precisely made cap that covers the whole tooth above the gumline and returns its strength and shape. A bridge replaces a missing tooth by anchoring a false tooth to crowns on the teeth either side of the gap. Same materials and workmanship, different jobs: crowns save teeth you still have, bridges stand in for one you have lost. Call (816) 439-7715.
Typically two. At the first visit the tooth is shaped, a precise impression is taken, and you leave with a temporary crown that protects the tooth and holds its position. The final crown is made to that impression and cemented at a second visit a couple of weeks later, after you and we are satisfied with the fit, the bite and the shade against your neighboring teeth. Call (816) 439-7715.
Because a filling relies on the tooth around it, and past a certain point there is not enough tooth left to rely on. A heavily broken-down or root-canal-treated tooth flexes under biting force, and an oversized filling in it tends to end in a fracture that can cost the tooth entirely. A crown wraps the whole tooth and takes the force itself. When a filling would genuinely still do, we say so. Call (816) 439-7715.
Often a decade or more, and the variables are mostly yours: home care, gum health and checkups. A crowned tooth can still decay at the margin where crown meets tooth, and the anchor teeth of a bridge carry extra load, so brushing, cleaning under a bridge with floss threaders or small brushes, and the six-month exam are what turn a good crown into a long-serving one. Call (816) 439-7715.
Yes, and you approve it before it is finally cemented. Shade is matched against your neighboring teeth in natural light, and front-tooth work is checked for the translucency real enamel has, because a crown that reads as dental work is a failed crown by our standard. The temporary phase also gives you time to live with the shape and flag anything you want adjusted. Call (816) 439-7715.