Fixed Dental Bridges
Accidents happen to teeth all the time. They can happen all at once in the form of trauma, where teeth get knocked out or damaged beyond repair. More often than not accidents happen to teeth over a period of time. No one means to neglect their oral health, it usually just ends up happening. After a few months or years of neglect, the repercussions start to add up and teeth end up in an irreversible state of decay. Dental bridges are one of the many tools that we at Prins Dental employ to help give you back the form and function of your teeth.
What is a bridge?
A dental bridge is an appliance that can be used to fill a void of missing teeth. Depending on the circumstances, a dental bridge could be used to replace anywhere from one to four teeth. Essentially a dental bridge is a block of manufactured teeth. It is permanently placed in your mouth using two anchor points. Healthy natural teeth or dental implants can act as anchor points for a dental bridge.
Even though all of the teeth of the bridge are physically connected, the final result makes it look like the teeth are individual and natural. Fixed bridges are typically made of porcelain with a metal sub-structure and require at least two visits to complete the process.
Receiving a Dental Bridge
During the first visit, we’ll prepare and temporize the teeth. We will take a mold of any existing teeth so that we can have precise measurements for the shape and size of the bridge that will be fabricated. Once we have a mold we will temporize your teeth to receive the bridge. We may fit you with a temporary bridge to act as a placeholder for the permanent.
We will send the mold off to our dental lab, which will create the bridge over a period of a few weeks. When we receive the bridge back from the lab it will be about time for your second visit.
During the second visit we’ll adjust and cement the fixed bridge in place. This means removing the temporary bridge and carefully placing the permanent. We will affix the permanent bridge on the anchors with an extremely strong, permanent dental cement. This cement allows us the ability to move the bridge about on the anchors until we have it perfectly positioned. Once in position, we can set the glue with the use of an ultraviolet light.
Sometimes a third visit may be needed if a tooth is extracted and the bridge preparation is done the same day. The bone and tissue will need 5–8 weeks to re-contour. This enables the dental laboratory to create a bridge which looks and feels natural with no food traps.
Other Options
If dental bridges are not the answer you are looking for we offer solutions to the problem of missing teeth in the form of dental implants.
Call us today at (541) 773-5441 with any questions you have about dental bridges, or to schedule an appointment for your no-obligation consultation. |
