Dental Bridges
What Are Dental Bridges?
If you had a tooth extracted or congenitally missing a tooth, you may consider a dental bridge to replace a tooth or teeth.
Dental Bridges are permanently fixated crowns put over the top of adjacent natural teeth. They ‘bridge’ the gap and allow you to regain function and esthetics once again.
Fun fact: the first dental bridge was made 4,000 years ago in China where they used bamboo carved into teeth like pegs
The Dental Bridge Procedure
There are usually two appointments associated with creating a dental bridge. Once you’ve decided that a bridge is right for you, your first appointment is preparing the teeth. The natural teeth on both ends of the space are reshaped conically to receive the final crown. An impression is taken either digitally or with VPS material.
Before you leave, a temporary bridge or crowns will be made to help protect and insulate the newly prepared teeth.
The dental lab custom builds your bridge, taking about two weeks. At your final seating appointment, the temporary is removed and the final bridge is checked for fitment and bite. If everything is feeling secure and correct, the final cement is placed under the bridge. You now have a wonderful new chewing and smiling ability!
Rivers Bend Family Dental provides a wide range of dental procedures to make it convenient for your family to tend to all its dental needs. Our services include but are not limited
Taking Care Of Your Dental Bridge
Taking care of your dental bridge afterwards will be most important in determining the longevity of your new teeth. Before you leave, you will be shown the new special flossing technique required to get under the bridge and remove any stubborn food particles that may catch. Usually a special floss threader will be given and shown to you. It’s important to remove this debris daily and often to prevent decay or gum issues.
Otherwise great oral hygiene is always welcomed. Following up with your normal cleaning schedules is always prudent to remove accumulations and plaque development around the bridge.
Patient Forms
Download required patient forms
A Dental Bridge VS Dental Implant
If you’re considering the choice between dental bridge and dental implant, you may be asking what is the main difference? If you don’t know what a dental implant is, please feel free to check out the description here.
The main difference is the end result with aftercare and the amount of healing time needed. Both can get esthetically pleasing results and functionally. The Bridge has more nooks and crannies where food can find its way under while The Implant resembles more of a natural tooth. A Dental Bridge will take however long the dental lab takes to fabricate the bridge (2-3 weeks). A Dental Implant may need anywhere between 4-6 months of total healing time between procedures (grafting if necessary, implant placement and final restoration).
Cost wise, at Rivers Bend, we’ve made it so the difference is not much between a 3 unit bridge and a single implant with abutment and crown. Ask yourself these two important questions to help yourself make a decision between the two:
1) Do I want this tooth/teeth to feel, look and function just like original natural teeth? And
2) Am I on a concrete short or long time frame to be able to get the final result I want to achieve?
Otherwise if you still have questions about Dental Bridges or Dental Implants, please call the office and talk to one of our wonderful staff. We will be more than happy to help answer any of your questions or concerns.