Dental Bridge: A Great Smile Makeover Option

Dental bridge means artificially filling the empty space of a tooth, which is placed between other teeth and is actually held by the teeth on both sides.

If one or more of your teeth are pulled or missing, a dental bridge can fill the gap with one or more artificial teeth, known as pontics. A dental bridge is typically fixed using the crowns of either side of the tooth, called abutments, to support teeth and stay fixed in place.

Types of dental bridges:

Traditional bridge

The most common types of dental bridges are traditional or conventional bridges. This bridge consists of a number of artificial teeth that must be connected to the adjacent natural teeth. In order to be able to install this bridge, the adjacent teeth must have good strength. To place these bridges, we have to cut the enamel of the adjacent teeth so that they become in a form that the bridge can be connected to. The materials of these types of bridges are metal, porcelain connected to metal, or ceramic.

Cantilever bridge

This type of bridge can be used in cases where there is an empty tooth space on only one side. In fact, only one tooth is used to fill the gap.

Maryland bridge

In order to install them, we need two adjacent natural teeth, that is, there must be a natural tooth on the left and right side of the missing tooth. But in this method, we don't need to cut the enamel. Rather, with the help of bonding, we connect the bridge to the missing area.

Implant-supported bridge

In this method, dental implants are used to fix the bridge. Therefore, there is no need to manipulate the surrounding teeth and grind the enamel because the implants can protect the bridge well.

Advantages and disadvantages of dental bridges

One of the advantages of a dental bridge is having a beautiful smile. You will have natural-looking teeth with no more gaps. It improves chewing and speaking and prevents the movement of teeth and their crookedness.

In some types of bridges, one of the disadvantages is that the dentist may have to scrape the tooth enamel.

Summary

If you have lost or pulled one or several of your teeth, you have different options to fill the space of these teeth. A dental bridge is one of these methods that is a very suitable replacement for missing teeth. But before doing anything, consult your dentist first.