Restorative Dentistry in Malta, NY

WHAT IT COVERS

Restorative dentistry at Cocozzo Family Dentistry in Malta, New York repairs and replaces damaged, decayed and missing teeth using tooth-colored fillings, crowns, bridges and full or partial dentures. Christina Cocozzo, DDS, does this work herself, uses magnification on every restorative procedure, and sends every crown, bridge and denture to one local dental lab she has worked with for over 30 years.

Anything that repairs or replaces tooth structure that is damaged, decayed, worn or gone. At the Malta office, four things:

• Tooth-colored fillings — composite bonded into a tooth after decay is removed.
• Crowns — a restoration covering a tooth too cracked or worn to hold a filling.
• Bridges — a fixed replacement for a missing tooth, anchored to the teeth either side of the gap.
• Full and partial dentures — for an arch missing all its teeth, or several.

Two things hold across all four: Dr. Cocozzo uses magnification on every restorative procedure, and every lab-made restoration goes to the same local dental lab she has used for over 30 years — which is why a new crown matches the tooth beside it. Implant restorations have their own page.

FILLINGS FIRST

When Is a Filling Enough, and When Does a Tooth Need a Crown?

A filling is enough when there is still sound tooth left to hold it. A crown is needed when there is not.

Worth stating plainly, because a crown is the more expensive and more invasive of the two. Composite bonds directly to the tooth and does not require cutting away healthy structure to stay put, so a filling preserves more of the original tooth — the ADA's patient resource, MouthHealthy, sets out the same trade-off. Where a filling will do, that is what Dr. Cocozzo recommends, usually in one visit.

A tooth crosses into crown territory when it is cracked, substantially worn, or has lost enough structure that a filling would not survive normal chewing. At that point a filling is a repair that will fail. And sometimes neither is right: a tooth without enough structure left to hold a crown is better removed and replaced than restored twice. Dr. Cocozzo will tell you which of the three a tooth is in, on the intraoral camera.

CROWNS AND BRIDGES

How Is a Crown or Bridge Made Here?

Most crowns take two visits, roughly two weeks apart. At the first, Dr. Cocozzo prepares the tooth and captures it with a digital scanner — no tray of impression material, which matters if you have a sensitive gag reflex. She works with the local lab on fit, shade and shape rather than accepting the first result. At the second, the finished restoration is seated and adjusted to your bite.

A bridge follows the same sequence but anchors to the teeth either side of the gap. It carries a trade-off worth hearing first: those neighboring teeth have to be shaped to hold it, permanently. If they are healthy and untouched, an implant restoration may be the better long-term choice — and she will say so rather than default to what she does in her own chair.

REPLACING TEETH

What Are the Options for Replacing Missing Teeth?

Three, depending on how many teeth are gone. A bridge replaces one tooth or a short run. A partial denture replaces several and attaches to the natural teeth that remain. A full denture replaces every tooth on an arch and rests on the gums.

Fit is what separates a denture you forget about from one you work around all day. Dr. Cocozzo takes detailed impressions and works with the same local lab on shade, shape and size, matched to your face rather than to a catalog. A few adjustments after placement are normal. The American College of Prosthodontists publishes guidance on caring for removable prostheses.

Implant-supported dentures do not move, but involve a surgical stage handled by a specialist.