Dental bridges are standard replacement options for missing teeth. However you decide on the most appropriate tooth replacement solution, it helps to learn more about dental bridges and other treatment options. This article looks into dental bridges and considers how many teeth they can replace if you have multiple missing teeth.
Review of the Dental Bridge Treatment for Missing Teeth
Dental bridges are often compared to traditional dentures or dental implants. This is because the options are excellent and suitable to replace a single tooth or an entire arch. However, a dental bridge is often the preferred option in some situations. Below is an explanation about dental bridges and when this option suits your needs.
A dental bridge helps replace one or more lost teeth with an artificial tooth connected to abutment teeth or dental implants on either side of the missing tooth gap. Dental bridges help replace a single tooth or some missing teeth consequently. Unfortunately, they are not appropriate for replacing an entire arch.
Dental bridges are suitable if you have one missing tooth or a section of consequently missing teeth. However, you must have strong abutment teeth in the form of healthy adjacent teeth or dental implants. In addition, dental bridges will not support holding more than four subsequent teeth in an arch. The dentist in the dental office in San Diego suggests dental bridges as appropriate solutions for one or two missing teeth without exceeding four as the maximum number of teeth replaceable by dental bridges in a single row. The reason for the limitation is that adding more teeth to the dental bridges compromises the integrity of the restoration, making it unstable and prone to failure.
The Dental Bridge Procedure
The Dental Bridge procedure is relatively painless because it involves tooth structure removal past the dentin to accommodate dental crowns with a bridge called a Pontic connected between them. Although you might feel pressure in the tooth during the reshaping, you will likely not experience pain because you receive local anesthesia near the tooth before your Bridge procedure.
After reshaping your teeth, dental bridges in San Diego provide impressions of your teeth for the dental laboratory to custom fabricate them to your mouth. You receive temporary acrylic bridges to protect the reshaped teeth until the laboratory returns your permanent restorations.
You must wait three weeks before you revisit the dentist to have the acrylic bridges removed and the permanent ones placed using special dental cement to function as a fixed bridge to close the gaps between your teeth.
How Long Does a Dental Bridge Last?
Dental bridges customized from porcelain are durable restorations providing you with artificial teeth lasting for 10 to 15 years with appropriate dental hygiene practices. Sadly, dental bridges can fail if you don’t care for them appropriately and allow plaque to accumulate around them and your abutment teeth. In such cases, you might have to get the dental bridge removed to have a new bridge created or consider alternative tooth replacement solutions for your missing teeth.
Does it Hurt When Getting a Dental Bridge Removed?
The pain you experience when getting a dental bridge removed will likely resemble the discomfort when getting dental bridges. It indicates that you will feel pressure in your mouth without experiencing intense pain unless the dentist attempts to pull the bridges from your mouth without anesthesia which they will likely not do. Expect the dentist to provide local anesthesia like earlier to numb the mouth before trying to remove the firmly cemented dental bridge and the dental crowns sitting on the abutment teeth.
While you will not experience pain during dental bridge removal, you cannot consider leaving the abutment teeth unprotected because they have lost significant tooth structure during dental bridge placement. Therefore, you must consider protecting the teeth with dental crowns if you intend to leave the edentulous gap vacant or consider alternative options like implants or partial dentures to close it. The better option for you would be to have a new set of dental bridges created to bridge the gap in your smile and prevent the unnecessary consequences of tooth loss from affecting you as soon as possible.
Dental bridges can help replace two to four teeth in a row, but dentists often recommend them as suitable replacements for one or two teeth. Increasing the number of teeth in a dental bridge compromises its integrity and risks failure.
If you need replacements for multiple missing teeth, the Center for Oral Health can help you by providing dental bridges or even suggesting dental implants for the replacements. Visit our practice today to consult with our team on the optimal solution for your missing teeth and have them replaced by the practice as soon as possible.
