Dental Bridges

A dental bridge is a fixed prosthesis that is used to treat tooth loss. When you lose a tooth, everything becomes more difficult. You can hardly chew your food, you feel insecure about gaps in your smile, your pronunciation becomes shabby, and your bite starts to shift.

To prevent these problems, a bridge is a durable tooth replacement that will restore the natural appearance and function of your teeth. By using your existing abutment teeth to hold it in place, a bridge uses either crowns, implants, or wings to prevent the bridge from moving.

A pontic tooth is suspended in the gums where the missing tooth used to be, which is connected to the abutment teeth. We can replace up to 4 consecutive teeth this way. Unlike dentures, you don’t need to remember to take them out or soak them and they don’t move. They’re even more durable and last longer!

A dental bridge can be made of various materials, including porcelain, metal, zirconia, or porcelain-fused-to-metal. It can also be placed in different areas of the mouth. These factors can affect the lifespan of your bridge because certain materials degrade faster than others and the rear teeth undergo more degradation from chewing forces than the front teeth.

On average, however, a dental bridge will last for 5 to 15 years before needing to be replaced. As long as you practice good oral hygiene by cleaning your bridge twice a day, attending regular dental cleanings, and reducing wear and tear and exposure to stains, your bridge should last for at least 10 years.

The process starts with a consultation at our office with Dr. Khanani, who will examine your teeth to determine if you’re a good candidate for a dental bridge. Then, we will begin preparing your abutment teeth to receive restorations.

If you have weak teeth, you may need to have them extracted and replaced with dental implants. Otherwise, we will file down your teeth on all sides to create space for crowns to be bonded on top.

After trimming your teeth, we will take impressions of your teeth and send them to a lab that will use your scans and impressions as a model to create custom-made restorations that fit your bite.

Dental crowns will be bonded to your abutment teeth and the pontic tooth will be suspended in the middle. If you are receiving a Maryland bridge, then we will bond the wings of the pontic tooth to the back of the teeth.