Dental Bridge – The affordable missing teeth replacement solution

If you lose a tooth either front tooth or molar, it will cause a change in your bite. The remaining teeth have to endure the additional pressure and it leads to weakening them. Similarly, the gaps left by the missing teeth encourage other teeth to displace and cause facial changes.

Hence restoring a missing or lost tooth is very important. It is not just to revamp the smile aesthetics but also essential to avoid losing the neighboring teeth.

The dental bridge is one of the dental restorative solutions that helps to restore missing tooth or multiple teeth. If you are not aware of it or like to know more about it, scroll down the page to read.

What is a Dental Bridge?

Dental bridge (or) Tooth Bridge is a prosthodontics appliance which contains a pontic (false tooth) along with anchor crowns on each side of the false tooth. The pontic is fixed in the lost tooth's place by cementing the retainer crowns on the missing tooth's adjacent teeth.

Depending on the number of teeth lost and the seriousness, a Dentist chooses the appropriate type of dental bridge.

What are the different types of dental bridges available?

We can get 4 types of dental bridges in a prosthodontist's dental office.

1)    Traditional dental bridges

It is a popular dental restoration option and has been in practice for many decades. Traditional dental bridges comprise the number of false teeth required with abutments (crowns) on both sides.

The traditional fixed bridges are effective to replace missing front teeth and back molar teeth.

2)    Cantilever bridges

The Cantilever bridge is applicable in the case when the teeth are present on either side of the missing tooth. Your Dentist will suggest the cantilever bridge if you have natural teeth on only one side and no teeth adjacent to the lost teeth.

The bridge is fabricated to restore a missing tooth by seeking support from one side by fixing the abutment.

3)    Maryland bonded bridge

The Maryland fixed bridge is similar to the traditional bridge as it also requires two abutment teeth to fix the gap. It consists of a false tooth but the crowns are replaced by framework made up of metal or porcelain.

A lost tooth is fixed with the Maryland bridge by cementing the frameworks on the back side of the adjacent teeth.

The downside of this bridge relies on its durability. The fake tooth fixed in areas where maximum chewing occurs like molar has higher chances of fall down.

4)    Implant-support bridges

Implant-support bridges are pertinent to fill the gaps for those who lost multiple teeth. Unlike other bridges, it gets support by implanting metallic posts at places to fix the bridge in place.

As the dental implants get intersected with the jawbone, an implant-support bridge provides maximum stability and comfort with the false teeth.

Is it painful while bonding dental bridges?

Fixing a missing tooth with bridges is not a surgical procedure. Hence a patient does not experience pain or discomforts during the process.

If you feel anxious, your Dentist begins with the process by injecting local anesthesia to numb the region to be treated.

What are the procedures involved in cementing a dental bridge?

The procedure begins with making measurements of the space with the imprints taken. The imprints are made by biting down a foam with which the false tooth is made.

When the pontic along with the abutment teeth are fabricated in the laboratory, the Dentist removes a small portion of the adjacent teeth's enamel to fix the abutment. If you get an implant-support bridge or Maryland bridge, the process of drilling the enamel does not require.

Fixing tooth bridges needs two dental visits. Once the impressions are taken in the first visit, the Prosthodontist extracts the enamel of the abutment teeth. Then you can get a temporary bridge to cover the exposed area until fixing the permanent bridge.

Conclusion

With the advancements in Dentistry, we can even regrow natural teeth in the place of a missing tooth. If you prefer missing teeth replacement with prosthodontics appliances, you can get a wide variety of options like dental implants, dentures and teeth bridges.

If you need cost-effective teeth restoration treatment to get back the smile aesthetics, prefer Dental bridges to avoid long-term consequences of tooth loss or missing tooth.