Essential Realities about Dental Bridges You Must Know

Missing a tooth is not something most people expect, but they deal with the common problem of tooth loss in their mouth’s anterior and posterior regions. While people neglect their molars, they become conscious of their smiles if they have lost teeth in the front of their mouths. Most people don’t realize tooth loss also affects their overall health thinking they merely have you replace the missing front tooth or two.

If you are conscious of your appearance because you have lost a couple of teeth in the anterior region, you must ensure you seek replacement solutions for the missing teeth before you endure the consequences of tooth loss that also affect your overall health.

If you think replacement teeth are expensive, we suggest you visit the Westminster dentist to inquire how to close the edentulous gap Between your teeth using a conservative solution that remains with you for at least a decade. The dentist will suggest dental bridges as the best option to replace the teeth you lost. However, before you accept the dentist’s proposal to have dental bridges applied to your mouth, we suggest you educate yourself about the essential realities of dental bridges before considering them inferior to your needs.

You Need Healthy Natural Teeth to Support Dental Bridges

While dental braces function as your artificial teeth, you must have two healthy natural teeth beside the missing tooth gap to support dental crowns holding your pontic (fake tooth) between them. The dentist reshapes the healthy teeth to accommodate dental crowns over them with the artificial tooth bonded between them to close the gap in your smile.

Dental Bridges Help Replace One or More Lost Teeth

Generally, a misconception exists among people that dental bridges are best suited to replace one tooth. Fortunately, in many cases, a dental bridge helps replace three or more. You can have dental bridges to support a significant restoration so long as you have healthy teeth neighboring the missing tooth gap. If you have multiple teeth missing in a row, the dentist might recommend an excellent solution that will remain with you for over a decade.

Implant-Supported Dental Bridge

If you don’t have healthy neighboring teeth to support dental crowns for your dental bridge, the dentist suggests you have an implant-supported dental bridge with the implant inserted deep into your jawbone in a surgical procedure and helping accommodate the dental crowns that function as your supporting teeth to hold the fake tooth between them. Implant-supported dental bridges are more expensive than traditional ones but support your oral health and smile for a long time if you favor them.

Dental Bridges Last For Decades

Dental bridges are a conservative, affordable solution with a minimally invasive procedure enabling you to have your artificial teeth in about three weeks after contacting the Westminster dental offices for the replacement solution. In addition, with appropriate dental hygiene, the replacement teeth in your mouth remain in place for over a decade. While the lifespan of dental bridges is approximately five to ten years, some effort can extend their longevity to 15 years, making them an excellent option for replacing your lost teeth. Besides maintaining appropriate dental hygiene, you must also incorporate six monthly visits to the Westminster dental offices for oral prophylaxis to ensure your dental bridges are not attracting infections to the underlying tooth beneath the dental crowns and the fake tooth. Dental bridges are created from materials invulnerable to tooth decay, but your natural tooth and gums beneath the artificial tooth remain natural and vulnerable to dental infections. Therefore getting six monthly dental cleanings at the Westminster dental office is the optimal strategy to maintain the health and longevity of your dental bridges.

You Must Incorporate Different Cleaning Techniques for Dental Bridges

When you brush your teeth, you may have become accustomed to using a single technique to clean your mouth. However, after having dental bridges to cover your missing tooth gap, you must adopt different cleaning techniques for your natural teeth, the dental crowns holding the bridge, and the fake tooth held by the dental crowns. Unfortunately, it indicates you must invest in different tools for cleaning your teeth and make extra efforts to prevent infections from developing in your mouth.

Dental Bridges Help Preserve Tooth Alignment

A drastic consequence of tooth loss is the drifting of your remaining teeth towards the vacant void in your mouth to misalign your remaining teeth to give you a nasty bite and make you vulnerable to receiving orthodontic treatment to correct the positioning of your teeth. Instead, if you have a dental bridge placed on your teeth to improve the aesthetics of your smile, you prevent the misalignment by helping support your teeth with dental bridges to continue enjoying better dental and overall health.

What Kind of Dental Bridges Can You Have?

You can consider four kinds of dental bridges depending on your unique situation. Traditional dental bridges are the most common, needing two dental crowns to fit on the neighboring healthy teeth to function as abutments and hold the fake tooth between them. However, if you have merely one natural tooth beside the missing tooth gap, the dentist offers you a cantilever bridge needing simply one dental crown and a Pontic for your artificial tooth. Fortunately, if you have lost a single front tooth, you find it beneficial to use the most conservative option of having a Maryland bridge needing no dental crowns because your natural teeth hold them by porcelain wings. Finally, an implant-supported bridge is the most expensive but is also the most durable because the implant continues to have the supporting teeth for the artificial tooth for life so long as you care for them appropriately.

Now that you have the essential realities about dental bridges, you can confidently arrange an appointment with Fox Creek Dental by Espire — Westminster to have the ungainly gaps between your teeth closed for a decade or more using a dental bridge that best suits your needs.