Whether tooth decay, gum disease, or an accident has left you with a gap in your teeth, you want to find a suitable replacement option that will allow you to smile, chew, and talk with ease. Dental bridges fulfill these roles beautifully, which is why we offer them here at Peninsula Dental Excellence.
Both Drs. Jeff Yoshihara and Colin Au are invested in your dental health and our team wants to ensure that you have access to the tools and resources you need to bring out the best in your smile. As part of our wide range of tooth-replacement options, we offer dental bridges.
If you’re unfamiliar with this replacement option, read on to learn about five great benefits that dental bridges offer.
You’re used to having your teeth securely anchored in your jawbone, which makes a transition to something like removable dentures a little rocky. With a traditional fixed dental bridge, we secure your pontics (replacement teeth) to the teeth on either side. To minimize the impact on your abutment teeth (the anchors), we place a crown over them for protection.
Once we fix the bridge firmly in place, you should enjoy a sturdy row of teeth again.
One of the problems with not replacing missing teeth is that it threatens your remaining teeth. A missing tooth includes the roots that go down into your jawbone. Absent these roots, your jaw may cease to rebuild bone in the area, which can cause your existing teeth to shift out of place. This bone loss can also affect your overall alignment and lead to problems in your temporomandibular joints and in your bite.
With a dental bridge, you’re able to ensure that your existing teeth maintain their positions, which helps offset bone loss.
Whether you lose highly visible teeth in the front or the workhorses toward the back, dental bridges come in different forms to address each of these situations. For example, to replace a molar, we turn to a traditional fixed bridge, while we use a resin-bonded bridge to replace front teeth.
If you’re missing several teeth in a row, we can use a combination of dental implants and a dental bridge to fill the gap. First, we place the implants on either side of the gap (or just one side depending upon the location). These implants are as strong as your natural teeth and provide superior support for the bridge. Once we attach the bridge to your implants, you should have no problems with chewing and talking.
If you want to restore your smile quickly, dental bridges are an excellent tool. If we don’t use dental implants, outfitting you with a bridge usually requires only two visits to our office.
If you want to learn more about the many benefits of dental bridges for replacing missing teeth, contact our office in Mountain View, California, to set up an appointment.
