Bridges

Replacing missing teeth and regaining your confidence with Dental Bridges

Tooth loss is an unfortunate part of life that many of us face. For any gaps in your smile, a dental bridge can restore the missing tooth and complete your smile. Dental bridges use your natural teeth as a support for the replacement. Custom-made using our onsite cutting-edge digital dental laboratory, we can design, create and fit your bridge in a single day.

What are dental bridges?

Made from porcelain or ceramic, the standard dental bridge appears like three teeth fixed together when not fitted. The two teeth on the ends of the bridge are in fact dental crowns and the replacement tooth acts as a ‘bridge’ between them. The natural teeth on either side of the gap are treated to accommodate the crowns, becoming ‘abutment’ teeth. The bridge then fits over the newly made posts and completes your smile.

If the missing tooth is one of your back molars, we can use a cantilever dental bridge where the missing tooth is supported by the teeth either on its left or right.

Maryland dental bridges are a temporary solution, using metal clasps to support the replacement tooth. However, at TwentyOneDental, as we have a dental laboratory in our clinic, we can make your bridge on the same day as your treatment so you can go home on the same day with your custom-made bridge. There is no need to have a temporary bridge between appointments.

Why do I need to have a bridge?

The esteem impact is a crucial factor, of course. Having a gap in your smile can really affect self-confidence and make you feel less like yourself. However, missing teeth can also affect the general health of the rest of your teeth. Over time, your teeth will shift and move to accommodate the space left behind. This causes the bite to misalign and can cause jaw issues and also cause your teeth to become damaged as the surfaces of your teeth don’t mesh together as they should. Having a bridge keeps the teeth from moving out of position, keeping your smile in top form.

Bridges are also a long-lasting and secure option for filling in gaps in your smile. You need not have to work at maintaining them to the same level you would with dentures. Once your bridge is fitted, it acts just like natural teeth. With that in mind, they also need regular brushing, good oral hygiene and regular trips to the dentist to make sure that they remain in good order.

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How do we replace missing teeth with dental bridges at TwentyOneDental?

We know that being faced with tooth loss is a stressful situation. We do all we can to remedy the problem quickly so you aren’t living with a gap in your smile for any longer than you have to. Our custom-made bridges are the perfect solution to completing your smile.

Preparing the abutment teeth and taking 3D scans

We first need to make sure that the teeth supporting the bridge are in perfect health. We will then reshape the abutment teeth, first using local anaesthetic to make the process as comfortable as we can. Once we have made the abutments for the supporting crowns, we use our intraoral 3D Camera. We capture digital scans of your prepared teeth as well as the rest of your smile so we can design your bridge to perfection.

Crafting your bridge at our clinic with Digital Smile Design

Using the 3D digital scans, we make your ceramic bridge in our dental laboratory. Our milling unit uses CAD/CAM technology, a computer-guided system that accurately creates your replacement teeth in a single sitting. Once the unit has finished, we colour-match the bridge to seamlessly blend in with the rest of your smile. The end result is polished to a high shine.

Completing your smile in a single day

We invite you back in for your fitting once our technicians have finished in the laboratory. We first check that the bridge looks perfect and then we affix the bridge to your prepared teeth using a dental adhesive.

Our patients benefit from having both the dental surgeon and laboratory technicians working together at all times, all onsite under one roof here at the clinic. In addition, our technicians are able to make any adjustments, often on the spot without causing unnecessary delay to our patients. During their visit, patients often pop into our laboratory to not only see how everything works but to meet the technician too, should they wish.

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FAQs

Why have a bridge and not an implant?

If you have a gap in your smile and it is impacting your confidence, a bridge may be the best solution as we can address the issue in a single day. We can treat your teeth, take scans, craft the bridge and fit it all within a few hours. With a dental implant, it can take months for the treatment to reach its final stage when we fit the replacement. While implants are more secure and long lasting, the treatment takes much longer and has more variables to consider. It is also an expensive treatment.

In some cases, when a tooth has been lost for some time, the jaw bone that once supported it naturally degrades. If this happens, having an implant may not be possible. With a bridge, as the teeth on either side of the gap support the replacement tooth, jaw density isn’t an issue.

How long do dental bridges last?

Your bridge can last as long as ten or more years as long as it is well looked after. While ceramic is resistant to dental decay, the natural teeth supporting your bridge aren’t. Good oral hygiene at home and regular trips to the dentist and hygienist will make sure your smile remains healthy and whole.

My bridge has come loose, what do I do?

If you bridge is wobbly or has come off all together, give us a call. We can recement the bridge and check to see if there are any other issues.

My bridge is broken, can you replace it?

Replacing a bridge is a straight-forward process thanks to our inhouse dental laboratory. If you had from original bridge crafted at our clinic, we’ll still have your scans on file and can make the replacement bridge ahead of your visit. If not, we can still take scans, craft your bridge and fit it in the same day.

Does my dental insurance cover a bridge?

Every insurance provider is different. While bridges can be considered a general treatment as replacing a missing tooth benefits your oral health, it can also be regarded as a cosmetic treatment. The best option is to contact your provider.