Bridges

Our dentists, at High Oaks Dental, offer dental bridges as a way to replace missing teeth.

Dental bridges can restore your smile, confidence, and function. They are fixed and cemented in your mouth by either sticking it to the adjacent teeth with specially designed ‘wings’ or by attaching the false tooth to a crown which is cemented to your adjacent teeth.

Why should you replace missing teeth?

• Appearance
• Eating
• Confidence
• To prevent movement of your remaining teeth
• To prevent creating ‘bite’ problems by allowing the drifting of adjacent teeth.

What are the risks to having dental bridges?

The simplest design is having a bridge glued in place with a wing. There are no drills required in most cases and the adjacent tooth structure is preserved. However, the bridge is held in by cement that can debond. If this is the case your dentist would need to recement the bridge back into place.

After having your bridge placed it is imperative that you maintain good oral hygiene, visit your dentist and hygienist regularly to ensure your natural teeth are kept healthy to prolong the life of your bridge.

Can everyone have a bridge?

Unfortunately, there are some rules we must abide by to ensure our bridges have the best chances from long term success. Patients with uncontrolled decay in teeth, gum disease, poor oral hygiene, and some health conditions are not recommended to have bridges. If the adjacent teeth are unable to support a bridge then alternative options will be presented.

Lastly, recently extracted teeth sites should wait between 4-6 months before placing a bridge.

What other options are available?

Your dentist will explain the optimal design of bridge suitable for the size gap which you have.

Alternatively, plastic dentures, or chrome dentures or dental implants are available.