A dental bridge is a dental appliance meant to replace missing teeth permanently. When multiple, consecutive teeth are missing a bridge can be used to fill the gap. Fixed bridges are not removable whereas removable bridges are.
Fixed bridges require two stable and healthy teeth to act as anchors for the permanent fixture, although Dental Implants can be used in place of natural teeth.
Traditional bridges are the most popular permanent bridge option. Their base is made of a strong metal which is fused with a layer of porcelain over the top. The metal gives the bridge a strong and sturdy support that will last a long time. The porcelain gives the bridge the pearly white appearance of real teeth.
Reasons for a Fixed Bridge
When teeth are lost in the mouth a number of things start to happen. Teeth surrounding the gap will begin to move into the opening. When teeth drift your bite can change quite a bit. When you bite changes, all sorts of nasty things can happen from jaw fatigue to cracking and chipping of teeth. Needless to say – you don’t want an empty gap in your teeth for these reasons alone.When you lose teeth you risk the structure of your face changing. Your teeth do us all a great service by helping to keep our facial structure looking filled out. When teeth are lost the face can begin to look different. Bridges help to keep the structure of the face looking correct.
To add to the stack of dental reasons to replace your missing teeth is a whole slew of practical reasons. Chewing can be made difficult or impossible. It is always painful to chew things like chips, or even apples and other hard fruit with a gap in your teeth. Speech can be made cumbersome as well. Often people will notice that you will pronounce certain sounds differently.
Dental Bridges also give people their smile back. It can be hard on the psyche to know that you can’t trust your smile. Bridges are almost completely indistinguishable from real teeth and help people to trust their smiles.
Dental Bridge Process
The process of receiving a fixed bridge is fairly straight forward and involves to trips to our office. One the first visit we prepare the anchor teeth to receive the bridge and take measurements and molds of the gap that we will be filling. Using these measurements, we are able to have our dental lab construct your bridge. Many times we will also fit you with a temporary bridge during your first visit so you can get used to how it will feel to have a bridge.During your second visit we will remove the temporary bridge and place the permanent. We will make sure to take our time and get the placement perfect. If you feel any discomfort at all after having your bridge placed, please give us a call to have us take a look at and modify your new appliance.
Schedule An Appointment
Please give us a call at 509-924-1314 to schedule an appointment.
