One or more missing teeth can sufficiently affect the appearance and functionality of your smile. Gaps left by missing teeth eventually cause the remaining teeth to rotate or shift into the empty spaces, resulting in a bad bite.
A dental bridge is a false tooth, known as a pontic, which is fused between two porcelain crowns to fill in the area left by a missing tooth.
A dental bridge is made up of two crowns for the teeth on either side of the gap – these two anchoring teeth are called abutment teeth – and a false tooth or teeth in between. Natural teeth, dental implants, or a combination of natural teeth and dental implants can be used to support dental bridges.
Dental bridges are made from porcelain and usually have a metal substructure. There are a few different types of bridges (see below): fixed bridges (traditional), bonded bridges and cantilever bridges. Porcelain or ceramic dental bridges can be matched to the color of your natural teeth.
Fixed dental bridges are the most common type of bridge. When this type of dental bridges is inserted the two surrounding teeth must be affixed with crowns to hold it in place.
Dental Bridges Types
There are three main types of bridges:
- Traditional Dental Bridges involve creating a crown for the tooth or implant on either side of the missing tooth, with a pontic in between. Traditional bridges are the most common type of dental bridge and are made of either porcelain fused to metal or ceramics.
- Bonded Dental Bridges (also called a resin-bonded dental bridge or a Maryland dental bridge) are made of porcelain fused to metal teeth supported by a metal framework. Metal wings on each side of the bridge are bonded to your existing teeth.
- Cantilever Dental Bridges are used when there is an adjacent tooth on only one side of the missing tooth or teeth.
Dental Bridges Procedure
If using a standard bridge, the dentist will remove a small portion of the teeth around the gap, to accommodate the thickness of the new tooth crown (or pontic, as above). An impression of the patient’s bite will then be taken, and a device called a facebow may be used to ensure that the patient’s jaw movement is accurately recorded. After studies are completed, the teeth used to attach the bridge are carefully reshaped. Impressions are taken and from these impressions, the bridge is made by a certified dental technician.
This information is then used to design dental bridge, ensuring that it is the best possible fit.
Dental bridge work usually takes two sessions with a dentist. The patient’s teeth may be sensitive to cold and hot foods for several weeks after having dental bridge procedure done.
Dental bridge can improve the way you look, bite, chew and even speak. If teeth are not replaced or supported when lost they will misalign other teeth causing your teeth to bite together incorrectly.