Dental Bridges

At the office of smile4me, we provide skilled and experienced care to help every patient enjoy the benefits of optimal oral health and a beautiful smile. For individuals who are missing teeth due to extensive decay, periodontal disease, trauma, the result of an illness, or side effect of medical treatment, we offer a comprehensive range of services to rebuild complete, attractive, and functional smiles.

How missing teeth impact the health and function of your smile

Missing teeth do more than cause embarrassing gaps in your smile. In the absence of a replacement, they can affect the health and function of your smile in the following ways:

• Impair your ability to smile, speak, and chew with confidence and ease.
• Allow the adjacent teeth to ever so slowly drift into the unoccupied spaces, thereby changing the alignment of your smile and bite.
• Cause teeth in the opposing arch that no longer occlude with a counterpart to extrude and further compromise your bite.
• Promote cavities and gum disease as the teeth shift out of place and impact the distribution of biting and chewing forces, and become more difficult to keep clean.

Rebuilding a complete smile

Although the consequences of missing teeth can compromise your dental health and overall well-being, modern dentistry offers effective solutions for reestablishing a complete, attractive, and well-functioning smile.

Today, thanks to advances in dental materials, technology, and treatment methods, it's easier than ever before to replace missing teeth and achieve aesthetically pleasing and long-lasting results.

Of course, each smile is different, and every patient has unique needs and individual expectations of care. Helping a patient rebuild a complete and beautiful smile may involve partial or full dentures, fixed dental bridges, or dental implants.

As skilled and experienced providers of care, the office of smile4me offers expert guidance on choosing the most suitable treatment option. Whatever type of tooth replacement method you select, you can feel confident that your smile will look good and feel great!

About dental bridges

A dental bridge offers a highly effective, stable, and fixed solution for replacing missing teeth. Unlike removable partial dentures that clasp on to the remaining teeth, a dental bridge relies on the support of crowns attached to teeth adjacent to the edentulous area (space without teeth) or strategically placed dental implants. In addition to restoring the look, feel, and function of a natural smile, they also prevent the teeth from shifting, thereby protecting the alignment of a patient's bite.

Far from a new idea, the history of replacing teeth with a fixed dental bridge goes back thousands of years. Ancient civilizations made impressive use of available materials, including animal and human teeth, bones, gold, and ivory, to fill gaps in a person's smile.

Fortunately, over the millennia, dental materials and technology have evolved. Today, dental bridges are fabricated from the highest quality of dental materials, including porcelain, porcelain fused to metal, and engineered ceramic products like zirconia. Now, in addition to being stronger and more durable than ever before, they appear more attractive and naturally beautiful.

Common types

Depending on the number of missing teeth, the health of the remaining dentition, and other factors, a dental bridge can replace a single missing tooth or multiple ones.

Although most resources list a traditional fixed bridge, an implant-supported bridge, a cantilever bridge, and a Maryland bridge as the four main types of bridges, the most commonly recommended ones are the first two.

• Traditional fixed bridge

  A traditional fixed bridge typically requires the preparation and crowning of teeth on either side of the edentulous space. These crowned teeth function to support the artificial ones, known as "pontics," that span the gap. In much the same way a bridge that extends over a body of water relies on the support of strong, sturdy pillars at each end, a dental bridge garners strength and stability from the terminal crowned teeth fused to a single or multiple pontics.

  Although related and similar to a traditional fixed bridge, a cantilever fixed bridge differs in one significant way. Only one side of the pontic will get attached to a crown for support.

• Implant-Supported Bridges

  As the most advanced method for the replacement of missing teeth, dental implants come the closest to replicating the look, feel, and function of a natural smile. For this reason, an implant-supported bridge often represents the best option in care.

  With an implant-supported bridge, there's no need to prepare, crown, or involve any adjacent natural teeth. Because dental implants behave in much the same way as the roots of natural teeth, they provide all the support a bridge requires.

  In addition to providing a self-supporting solution for the replacement of missing teeth, Implant-supported bridges offer the most versatile approach for rebuilding a complete smile. Strategically placed dental implants can support any number of replacement teeth up to an entire set of upper or lower teeth.

  Furthermore, as dental implants provide the same stimulation as actual roots to the surrounding jawbone, implant-supported bridges also help prevent the bone shrinkage that naturally occurs when teeth have been lost. This feature helps maintain normal facial contours.

Before a bridge gets fabricated

Successful treatment outcomes rely upon many things, including a careful assessment of a patient's oral health, overall well-being, smile goals, lifestyle, and budget. Whether you're a candidate for a traditional fixed bridge, an implant-supported bridge, or a removable denture will be determined following a comprehensive assessment and discussion with our office. We value patient input and strive to fulfill your expectations of care.

Before the fabrication and placement of a dental bridge, it's essential that your mouth is free from gum disease. If you have gum disease, it will need to get treated in advance of fabricating your bridge.

For traditional fixed bridges, the crowned teeth need to be strong and have sufficient bone surrounding them to offer strong support. Sometimes, a bone-grafting procedure to boost bone volume and provide a solid foundation is required before the fabrication of an implant-supported or traditional bridge.

At the office of smile4me, the care and comfort of our patients are our top priorities. Our goals are to create healthy and beautiful smiles and make every dental experience a positive one.

What to expect when getting an implant-supported bridge

Surgery to place the dental implants is typically considered a minor surgical procedure and performed on an outpatient basis. However, the exact extent of the procedure depends upon the type and number of dental implants and whether or not any additional procedures are required to prepare the supporting bone.

As your trusted partner in care, you can count on our office to keep you well informed every step of the way. To facilitate the precise placement of dental implants for your implant-supported bridge, we'll take several detailed diagnostic records, including 3D images of your jaws and the involved area.

Patient care and comfort are our top priorities. We do everything we can to put you at ease and make every visit to our office both comfortable and stress-free. Prior to placing your dental implants, we'll discuss the anesthesia, options in dental sedation, and provide detailed pre-op and post-op care instructions.

Once the dental implants for your bridge are placed, it can take a few months for them to fully integrate with the surrounding bone. In some cases, a same-day temporary bridge can get placed to provide an immediate and cosmetically pleasing look. However, the permanent bridge typically gets placed when healing and osseointegration (fusion) with the surrounding bone are complete.