Dental bridges are excellent restorative options for replacing a missing tooth or even a broken tooth. Dental bridges bridge the gap created by tooth loss. Bridges consist of three crowns with two located on both sides of the appliance serving as abutments to anchor the healthy fake tooth between them to serve as a Pontic.
If you don’t have any neighboring teeth available to serve as abutment teeth, you may require dental implants. Dental bridges are fixed appliances indicating the abutment crowns are bonded over the healthy adjacent teeth or a dental implant. Bridges are made from different materials, including metals such as gold and silver, all-porcelain or porcelain fused to metal.
Is the Dental Bridge Procedure Comfortable?
You require a couple of visits to the dentist near you if you want to have dental bridge placement. During the first visit, you receive local anesthesia near the teeth serving as abutments to ensure you don’t confront any discomfort from the procedure. The abutment teeth are prepared by reshaping and resizing them to accommodate the dental crowns for holding the Pontic in place.
After the initial preparation, impressions of the abutments are taken for the dental laboratory to fabricate a custom-fit dental bridge. You receive a temporary bridge on the prepared teeth as protection for them.
During your second visit, the dental bridge placement procedure is accomplished when the dentist removes the temporary bridge to replace it with your customized replacement for the tooth makeover. The dentist adjusts the bridge to ensure it fits properly. If no problems are confronted, the bridge is permanently cemented in place.
Dental bridges help restore your missing teeth by closing the gap created by them. Bridges are excellent solutions to replace missing teeth or a broken tooth. However, like every other restorative procedure, bridges have some advantages and disadvantages. Before you decide to have them as a tooth makeover solution, you must consider the advantages and disadvantages of dental bridges. Understanding the benefits and downsides will help you care for them appropriately to maintain them for their lifespan. Let us provide some information about the benefits and downsides of dental bridges.
Advantages Of Dental Bridges
Dental bridges help replace your missing teeth restoring your teeth’ functionality, allowing you to speak and chew correctly. The placements prevent your remaining natural teeth from shifting towards the blank space creating problems with your bite. The risk of bone loss is reduced to maintain the structure of your face. Bridges are permanently fixed in your mouth, preventing them from slipping or shifting like dentures.
Disadvantages Of Dental Bridges
You do encounter some disadvantages when you decide to have dental bridges as teeth replacement solutions. Some of them include the following:
- An ill-fitting bridge causes tooth decay formation under the Crown.
- Your abutment teeth are compromised to accommodate the dental crowns during the preparation.
- The restoration can collapse if your abutment teeth do not have the strength required.
- Dental bridges need replacements eventually and are merely a fixed dental appliance lasting you for a decade.
How Can You Make the Best with Dental Bridges?
First of all, you must carefully choose which option you want to have to replace the missing teeth. You can discuss various solutions with your dentist to understand the pros and cons of each option. If you decide dental bridges are best for your current situation, you can go ahead and have them. It helps if you inquire about the advantages and disadvantages of dental bridges with the dentist because they can help you make an informed decision.
Should you decide, dental bridges are the best solution for you; it helps to inquire with the dentist on how to care for the placement and your oral health to ensure you make the most of the post in your mouth.
Your dentist recommends that you maintain the dental bridge in excellent condition along with your oral health by using the following self-care tips:
- Brush your teeth twice daily using fluoride toothpaste.
- Floss your teeth paying particular attention to the dental bridges making every effort to remove any Trapped food particles and plaque from around the crowns and beneath the Pontic. Dentists even recommend using floss threaders to enable you to round and beneath the Pontic.
- Avoid sticky and starchy foods as prime culprits for the development of tooth decay and cavities.
If you follow your dentist’s instructions to the word, you can have the dental bridges in your mouth for their lifespan.