Dental Bridges
Restorative & Convenient Dental Treatments
Every one of our teeth plays an essential part in speech performance, chewing ability, and overall alignment of the tooth arc. The loss of even a single tooth can be unsightly and may have a negative impact on your oral health and self-confidence. Thankfully, your tooth can be replaced, more often than not by a bridge.
What Are Dental Bridges?
A dental bridge is an artificial device used to fill in gaps caused by a missing or damaged tooth or teeth. It involves utilizing the adjacent teeth next to the void of the missing tooth to help anchor the device in place.
There are two main types of these dental devices:
- Permanently fixed bridges – involves placing a dental crown over the surrounding abutment teeth or fusing the artificial device directly onto the adjacent teeth.
- Removable bridges – attaches to a gum-colored plastic base, which in turn are anchored in to the dental implants or any remaining natural tooth by either metal clasps or flesh-resembling attachments.
Once cemented into place, a fixed bridge can only be extracted with specialized dental machinery, meanwhile, a removable bridge can be taken off to clean the device itself and the natural tooth it’s encasing.
The Benefits of Dental Bridges
Additional key benefits to obtaining dental bridges include:
- Proper bite restoration and improvement of chewing abilities
- Reduction of damage to the teeth and surrounding tissues
- Support of facial structure such as the cheeks and lips
- Cosmetic enhancement of your smile and facial features
Bridge Attachment Procedure
To initiate your first visit, the abutment teeth surrounding the gap are filed down to ensure the crown will fit perfectly in place. Following this resurfacing treatment, impressions of your teeth will be taken to a dental lab so they can fabricate your custom bridge that’s catered to your bite pattern and ensure there’s a compatible fit with the opposing tooth.
Since the construction of your unique bridgework takes roughly two to three weeks to complete, a temporary bridge will be fit to the permanent site for the time being. Once coming in for your second appointment, your temporary device will be removed to make way for the permanent dental bridge that is to be adjusted and fixed into in place.