What are dental bridges?
Dental bridges are used to fill an empty space caused by one or a few missing teeth. Teeth can fall out due to various reasons, with the most common reasons being tooth decay and periodontal disease. Certain types of diseases such as diabetes and smoking as well as physical distress can also result in falling teeth.
These missing teeth are likely to effect the positions of rest of the teeth. Teeth immediately next to the vacant space will naturally move to fill the empty space. This shift can lead to tooth decay or even result in gum disease and speech difficulty. In severe cases tooth loss can also lead to a collapsed bite and jaw problems.
However, these problems can be avoided by using a dental bridge. A dental bridge comes in three pieces, the false or missing tooth and two crowns that hold the missing tooth in place. Although some people prefer it to be made from gold, it can also be made from alloys, porcelain or a mixture of these materials.
The artificial tooth is held in the empty space at the gum line by fitting it onto the neighboring teeth of the empty space. However, if there are several teeth missing, the artificial teeth are joined together and attached to real teeth next to it. Your dentist may also consider reshaping and resizing the two neighboring teeth so that fits well in place with the crowns.
You can also expect your dentist to take an impression or a mold of the teeth and send it to a laboratory. The technician then fabricates three crowns and support it together to custom-fit the prepared teeth. It usually takes about three weeks to have these crowns cemented on the teeth permanently. Once the dental bridge is attached to the surrounding teeth of each side of the empty space, it will remain in your mouth and cannot be removed or replaced unlike partial dentures. What’s great about bridges is that they are natural in appearance, so you don’t have to be self conscious when interacting and talking with others.
You can also continue to brush and clean your teeth as usual. Proper oral hygiene is recommended to establish the success of any oral treat