Dental Bridges

C an you really ever afford to lose a tooth? The simple answer is “No” because teeth are designed to work as a team. The words you speak are much clearer with a complete set of teeth. It’s easier to bite and chew favorite foods like steak, celery, and corn on the cob. Proper alignment is supported by neighboring teeth.

Growing older doesn’t mean you have to lose teeth. Good dental care and regular checkups go a long way towards preventing that problem. If the time comes where teeth deteriorate, fall out, or must be pulled, the best thing to do is fix the problem right away by contacting your Ukiah's own Khoury Dentistry about dental implants or bridges.

What is a Dental Bridge?

Devices that replace missing teeth are known as fixed partial dentures or dental bridges. Simulated teeth are created in a dental laboratory to replace missing teeth. The replacement structure is attached to the natural adjoining teeth, also known as abutment teeth. Bridges are available in both fixed (permanent) and removable styles.

Permanent bridges bond to crowns on adjoining teeth or directly to the abutment teeth. Attachment styles such as clasps are placed on adjoining teeth to hold removable bridges steady. Fixed bridges are definitely more stable, but removable bridges make cleaning easier because they are easy to take out and put back in.

Missing teeth cause problems in areas other than eating and speaking. It affects personal appearance and causes some people to avoid smiling because they are self-conscious about the gaps in their smile. The good news is that you can request an appointment at our office to fill in those gaps with temporary or fixed dental bridges.

What Are Dental Bridges Made Of?

We request our lab to use a combination of materials, porcelain, or gold alloys to build our patients’ bridges and implants. It’s the best way to avoid metal allergies. If metal is needed in the bridge, the technicians bond porcelain to the metal to add stability and prevent adverse reactions.

Reasons Why a Bridge or Dental Implant Could Be Needed

Besides chewing, we seldom stop to think of other ways teeth help us out. Proper placement of the teeth allows us to pronounce words and sounds correctly. The correct sounds and inflections are hard to get when teeth are missing. In fact, the gaps may increase the chance of developing speech impediments. The mouth has a greater risk of developing gum diseases like gingivitis once teeth start falling out. An infected mouth adversely affects health throughout the body. Talk with Dr. Khoury or his staff about the benefits of using dental bridges to keep your gums and remaining teeth in good condition.

What other situations are known to occur when you lose a tooth and fail to replace it? The outer appearance of your face suffers because you’ve lost part of the support for your lips and teeth. Your mouth may develop a sunken look, particularly if you are missing teeth in the back of your mouth. The familiar contours of your face will return when dental bridges add support.

In some cases, teeth will shift and take over the gap or gaps left by missing teeth. Not only does it change your bite, it results in the need for braces to realign the teeth.

Impressions, Fitting, and Attaching Dental Bridges

Patients should plan on two or three appointments for the bridge process to be completed. Dr. Khoury will take a bit of dentin and enamel from the tooth on each side of the gap. Impressions are made and the color of your teeth noted. The information is sent to our lab, where the missing teeth are created to match your natural teeth and set into a bridge that is built to span the gap in your mouth.

The attachment procedure takes place at the next appointment. The false tooth fills the gap. Dental cement is used to bond the fixed bridge to the abutment teeth. Dental crowns, cemented to the adjoining teeth, provide support to the bridge.

Care and Maintenance of Dental Bridges

Brushing and flossing are as important after you get a new bridge as those two steps were before. Show off your new smile by maintaining the healthy routine of dental hygiene recommended by your Ukiah dentist, Dr. Nicholas Khoury.

Contact us for a friendly consultation

We look forward to hear from you and discuss dental bridges. We encourage you to ask any questions if you're still unfamiliar with the procedure or even if you're wondering how much this procedure typically costs. You can call us at (707) 703-1667 or click here to contact us on our website.