Benefits of Bridges
Dental bridges may be the perfect solution for replacing your missing tooth. Dental bridges:
- Look attractive
- Are fully fixed in the mouth
- Allow patients to chew normally
- Preserve spacing in the mouth
- Can protect damaged teeth
- Don’t require surgery
When you choose a bridges as your tooth replacement option, you don’t have to worry that they look out of place. Dr. Chris Hill designs your dental bridges to look similar to your adjacent teeth so there’s a natural flow in your mouth. The results look attractive and completely natural.
You also don’t have to worry about your restoration falling out when you speak or eat. Dental bridges are fully fixed in your mouth so you can chew, speak, and smile normally without worry.
Since dental bridges replace your missing teeth, your natural teeth will stay in place. Without a replacement, it’s common for natural teeth to move towards the empty spaces in your mouth. Preserve the spacing in your mouth and keep your smile looking great with dental bridges.
Dental bridges use dental crowns as anchors, so they can actually protect your teeth when the crowns are placed over already damaged teeth. This is a double win for you. Lastly, they don’t require any surgery for placement unless you use dental implants to secure them into place.
How Dental Bridges Work
A dental bridge does exactly what it sounds like, it creates a bridge over the gap in your mouth, only the bridge is a false tooth, not a wooden structure. The bridge is supported by two dental crowns on either side, with replacement teeth attached between them. The entire structure is one single unit that is placed in your mouth.
The teeth we use to anchor your bridge are known as abutments while the replacement teeth are called pontics. When a dental bridge is used, we must first assess the health of the abutment teeth to ensure they are healthy enough to support the bridge. The procedure involves preparing the abutment teeth and then taking impressions for the restoration to be made. Once it returns from the lab, we will ensure it fits and looks correct before permanently bonding it to your teeth.
Limitations of Bridges
Unfortunately, dental bridges aren’t the perfect solution as they have a few limitations to take into account. To start, since your natural teeth support them, this can cause extra stress on the natural teeth. Over time, this might lead to the failure of the natural teeth.
In addition, dental bridges are only the ideal solution in a limited number of situations where the stresses aren’t too great.
When we prepare your teeth to serve as abutments, we try our best not to remove any healthy tooth material, but it’s sometimes necessary. If your teeth are not healthy enough, we may not be able to use them to support a bridge.
Lastly, dental bridges don’t do anything to stimulate your jawbone. This means it’s likely your gums will recede in the area of the missing tooth causing a gap underneath your bridge.
While dental bridges aren’t the perfect solution for every patient, they do a great job at replacing missing teeth in the right support. To find out if you’re a good candidate in St. Louis, please call (314) 678-7876 today for an appointment.
Dental bridges at Smile On Dental Studio in Richmond Heights, MO are the perfect option to replace your missing teeth. They are secured in place and look completely natural to give you a confident and functional smile.
