Dental Bridge Treatments
What is a dental bridge?
Sometimes, despite your desire to save your natural tooth from unwanted removal or severe tooth decay, it ends up getting extracted. Leaving this unattended for a long period of time can pose major problems with your chewing, speech and even the appearance of your face as your facial muscles will gradually droop due to the indentation left by the extracted tooth. A dental bridge can be performed to restore the missing gaps in your smile before they lead to further issues. This is a type of dental prosthesis which takes support from the adjacent natural teeth at two ends, or through dental implants, to fill the empty space of a missing tooth or even multiple teeth.
Restore your missing teeth with a dental bridge.
The advantages of a dental bridge
It serves the purpose of the natural tooth by:
- Maintaining aesthetics
- Restoring function i.e. chewing, speech
- Aiding in speech as missing teeth can impede the proper enunciation of words.
- Preventing the undesirable consequences of missing teeth and maintains the integrity of the face, jaws and your bite.
- Maintaining the alignment of your adjacent teeth
Ideally, we shouldn’t wait long to get a replacement of the missing teeth, as losing a single tooth can result in an imbalance in the dental arch resulting in gum disease, moving and tilting of existing teeth into the empty space and even causing the opposing tooth to move out of its socket to fill the space in the opposite jaw.
Dental Bridge vs. Dental Implants
Although both treatment options are available at Wyndham Dental, there are pros and cons to each. Here are a few clinical situations in which we would advise a dental bridge for you, over an implant:
Systemic diseases
Patients with specific systemic diseases or health limitations where an implant would otherwise fail or the prognosis would not be very desirable. These include patients with uncontrolled diabetes, debilitating arthritis and patients on certain medications that hinder bone formation or tumours of the jaw. This is why at Wyndham Dental Solutions, we conduct thorough assessments of each of our valuable patients, devising a treatment plan that would have a good prognosis for you and would be more suitable to your individual needs.
Poor Periodontal Tissue Quality
In cases where the periodontium, such as the gums and jaw bones, are in a questionable state, with poor bone quality and/or quantity, and has insufficient space for a dental implant is where a dental bridge is a great option.
Carious but treatable abutment teeth
Where teeth adjacent to the missing space are already compromised and would require a crown for protection and to function after root canal treatments, a dental bridge is a definitive choice as it would cater to several problems altogether. The space would be closed, missing tooth replaced and the abutment teeth treated to last many more years!
Young patients
Young children who have yet to reach their full growth potential are not advised to get implants or even a conventional 3-unit bridge for their missing teeth. We can provide you with another bridge design known as the Maryland Bridge. It doesn’t require reduction of the entire supporting structure of the abutment teeth and takes support only from the back of these teeth, through ‘wings’. This is advised for teeth missing in the front and can be replaced with a dental implant-supported crown when the child reaches full growth potential at around 17-18 years of age.
Fewer visits, shorter treatment time
When you are looking for affordable and faster results, a dental bridge placement is a two or three visit procedure and the lab fabrication time of the bridge is about a week. In addition, a dental bridge, if kept well by maintaining good oral hygiene and regular follow-up visits with us, can last as long as 10-15 years – or even more!
If you have any missing teeth that you wish to replace and want to be able to chew and speak freely, drop by Wyndham Dental Solutions, where we would be happy to provide you with the best team of dentists and partner lab technicians, all waiting to help bring your smile back!
Types of Dental Bridges
Traditional Dental Bridge
This is the most common type of bridge used. To replace one or more missing teeth, the false tooth or teeth (pontic) is placed in the middle, affixed to adjacent natural teeth (abutments) on either side of the gap. The healthy teeth on the sides provide the necessary support.
Cantilever Dental Bridge
Similar to the traditional bridge the pontic is cemented onto a single tooth. In this case it is fixed only on one side rather than either side as there is only one available healthy tooth. This is typically done in areas of the mouth where stress is lower, such as the front teeth.
Maryland Dental Bridge
This conservative option is a dental bridge done using a porcelain or metal framework bonded onto the back of the adjacent teeth. The pontic is placed in this frame and attached to the teeth with resin for support. This bridge is less invasive than the other bridges, ideal for those that want a fixed yet temporary solution.
Implant-Supported Bridge
An implant-supported bridge is held in place by dental implants instead of crowns or frameworks attached to natural teeth. Dental implants are surgically placed into the jawbone as anchors to support the bridge. This is a highly stable and strong bridge suitable for multiple missing teeth.
Dental bridge procedure
A dental bridge takes the support of the existing teeth present adjacent to the empty space of the missing tooth by anchoring dental implants on both ends.
When taking support of the natural teeth, they are required to be prepared by drilling them circumferentially and from the top. This creates space for the crown to be placed over them, and this crown-tooth union acts as the pole of the bridge. In most cases, we need the support of two such poles for a fully functional bridge to be able to withstand the loads of chewing. Such a conventional bridge is referred to as a 3-unit bridge with two teeth as the ‘abutments’ and the artificial replacement tooth secured in the middle as the ‘pontic’.
How much does a dental bridge cost?
The cost of a dental bridge depends on several factors, such as the type of dental bridge, the materials used and the complexity of your case. Our friendly dentists will provide an accurate cost estimate after assessing your mouth when you visit our dental clinic for a consultation.
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Maintaining your dental bridge
Not enough emphasis can be put on good oral hygiene as this is the ultimate saviour of not only your teeth but the artificial replacements as well! Brush twice a day along with flossing in between your teeth and mouthwash rinses.
Visit your dentist from time to time for an evaluation of your bridge so that it can be checked for any minute problems which would otherwise progress and become more complex.
Why choose Wyndham Dental for dental bridges?
Our Werribee dentists have years of experience and expertise in providing effective and quality dental care using only the best materials and technology. When you come to us with missing teeth, you can rest assured we can restore your smile with aesthetically pleasing and long-lasting dental bridges.
We also offer a range of other cosmetic and restorative dental services for all your oral health needs. No matter the dental issue you have, we have a solution for you! So, visit us or call us if you need more information.