Bridges

A bridge is a dental appliance that is used to replace one or more missing teeth in an arch. It is cemented into the mouth with permanent cement and in comparison with removable partial dentures, fixed bridges are not removable. A bridge normally consists of minimum three parts. The bridge will be fixed onto the 2 teeth(abutments) on either side of the “gap”. These abutment teeth will be drilled down so that the bridge can be fitted over these with the joining “false tooth” in-between. Bridges are helpful in keeping the bite from collapsing; it improves your chewing ability and in some cases improves speech. It prevents other teeth from moving and drifting which could cause collapse of the facial features and causes lines and wrinkles. There are different types if bridges such as fixed, as explained above. There are Maryland bridges which are fixed with metal wings onto the adjacent teeth. This type of bridge is a particularly good choice where the adjacent abutment teeth are healthy and has had no drilling done to them before. There are also cantilever bridges where the pontic tooth is only attached to one adjacent tooth and there is limited use for these types of bridges. Sometimes there are too many teeth missing in a row and then your dentist will recommend dental implants or a removable denture as a better option.