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Missing a Tooth? A Dental Bridge Could Be Your Solution
Dental bridges are a traditional way to replace missing teeth, either a single tooth or several adjacent teeth, usually using healthy, natural teeth as anchor points. As an established dental procedure, bridges are versatile, with different applications and designs. Dental bridges can even be used with implants in hybrid teeth replacement scenarios.
At New York Dental Health, with seven locations in the Bronx and New York City, New York, we can help you determine the best tooth replacement treatment to suit your situation, including dentures, implants, or, the focus of today’s blog, dental bridges.
Dental bridge basics
As with any bridge, the dental variety fills a gap, in this case one caused by tooth loss, a condition shared by nearly 180 million people in the United States. Bridges represent fixed restorations, meaning that they aren’t usually removable, like full or partial dentures.
Instead, bridges use natural teeth adjacent to the gap to serve as abutments, points where the artificial tooth or teeth, called pontics, attach. Sometimes, dental implants may serve as the abutments, directly supporting the pontics.
Types of bridges
Conventional dental bridges use the crowns of the natural teeth on both sides of a gap caused by tooth loss. The enamel of these abutment teeth is reshaped to accept dental crowns that attach laterally to the pontic restoration, creating the “bridge” that restores normal biting and chewing functions.
Cantilever bridges allow a pontic to be placed in areas where there’s only a natural abutment tooth on one side of the missing tooth, using the same techniques as conventional bridges.
Maryland bridges are typically used to fill gaps in front teeth, using metal wings on the pontic teeth, which are then bonded to the abutment teeth rather than using crown abutments.
Implant-supported bridges require placement and osseointegration of the implant posts, which takes up to six months, but which provides excellent support when you have a gap of three or more adjacent teeth. All the crowns in this arrangement are artificial, while the posts provide interaction between the implants and jawbone.
Benefits of dental bridges
When a bridge is the right restoration technique, you gain a number of benefits, both cosmetic and functional. These include:
- Appearance: when visible teeth have been lost, bridges restore your smile
- Prevents tooth movement: without filling a tooth-loss gap, natural teeth can shift out of place
- Restores your bite: replaces missing teeth; evens out biting and chewing forces
- Preserves speech: some tooth loss scenarios can affect the way you talk
- Long-lasting: with proper care, dental bridges have a long life expectancy
Contact New York Dental Health at our nearest location to learn more about dental bridges for your tooth loss situation. Call or click to book your consultation today.