Are You In The Market For A Bridge?

Posted by

rbDental bridges have many benefits. They replace lost teeth, restore your smile, allow you to chew a variety of healthy foods again, allow you to speak with no impediments, they help prevent your face from looking older and sunken in, prevent your teeth from shifting, and help maintain your proper bite position. Bridges are also more affordable than an implant, and far less-invasive that implant surgery. So, if you’re missing a few teeth, you may be in the market for a dental bridge.

Types of Bridges

If you’re in the market for a dental bridge it will serve you well to be familiar with the types of bridges available. There are the:
Traditional Bridge: This type of bridge consists of an artificial tooth called a pontic, with a crown on either side. The crowns fit onto the adjacent teeth while the pontic fills the gap left by the missing tooth. These are the most common types of bridges.
Cantilever bridge: Not recommended for back molar due to the bite force they endure, these bridges are not very common. A cantilever bridge is used when there are healthy adjacent teeth only to one side of the missing tooth.
Maryland bridge: This type of bridge consists of a pontic or pontics supported by a metal framework with “wings” on either side of the bridge. The metal wings are attached to adjacent tooth and bonded using a composite resin bonding material.

Bridge Placement

To place a bridge, the abutment teeth (those adjacent to the missing teeth) must be in healthy enough shape to prepare them for crown placement. This consists of grinding down some of the healthy natural tooth structure.  The crowns are then fitted over the abutment teeth and permanently cemented. This is a fixed bridge. Removable bridges consist of the pontics but rather than use crowns, they are fabricated with wire frames which slip over the adjacent teeth for stability. You can remove this type of bridge to keep the area of the missing tooth clean.

ABOUT YOUR SHERIDAN DENTISTS:

Questions about our Sheridan, WY dentist office? To learn more about our services, or to schedule an appointment with one of our doctors, contact us at (307) 672-7567. We welcome residents of Sheridan, Gillette, Billings, Miles City, and the neighboring communities.