A Bridge Not Too Far
- Posted on: Mar 30 2016
If you’re missing a tooth or a few teeth, you have two basic options for filling the gap. Dr. Marshall’s first choice is a dental implant to replace every missing tooth, as implants are the strongest option and they function exactly as your natural teeth did before.
But a less involved way to “bridge” the missing teeth is a dental bridge.
What not just leave the gap open?
Some people opt to not replace missing teeth with either an implant or a bridge. While this may save some dollars in the short term, it can result in far more extensive, and expensive, issues later. This is because the adjacent teeth tend to want to move over into the gap. This can cause problems with your bite and can leave you with crooked teeth.
Also, the bite force delivered into your teeth when chewing is substantial. That energy travels down through the tooth into the jawbone beneath. This energy is what triggers the jawbone to continue to produce new bone mass, keeping it healthy. When a tooth or teeth is/are missing, that area of the jawbone doesn’t receive this energy and begins to deteriorate.
What is a fixed bridge?
A fixed dental bridge involves placing two crowns onto the healthy teeth on each side of the missing tooth or teeth. Those crowns permanently anchor the bridge that holds the pontic (artificial tooth) that replaces the missing tooth.
What is a cantilever bridge?
When a patient has healthy teeth on only one side of the gap, Dr. Marshall fills the gap with a cantilever bridge. While not a true “bridge” in that there are not two anchor sides, a cantilever bridge is anchored by two healthy teeth on the one side. Both of these teeth receive crowns and hold the bridge. This type of bridge can’t be used in high-pressure areas of the mouth.
What is a resin bonded bridge?
This type of bridge is used mainly on the front teeth. Bands are cemented to the backs of the teeth on each side of the missing tooth and a replacement tooth is fused to them.
If you have a missing tooth or teeth, call Dr. Marshall at 610-649-0696 and let’s discuss filling the gaps.
Posted in: Dental Bridge