If you are looking to replace several missing teeth, you might be considering dental implants. But should you get a dental bridge that fills in for several teeth at once, or individual tooth crowns for each tooth?
Both are good options, but which is right for you depends on several factors.
Dental bridges do a good job of mimicking natural tooth appearance, but they don’t exactly look like separate teeth. There is shading between the different units that makes them look similar to separate teeth, but close inspection reveals the difference.
Whether this matters depends on your smile. People who don’t generally reveal their upper gums when they smile won’t show the difference as much–it’s most evident at the gum line. The difference can also be worsened by the appearance of black triangles around teeth, which will clearly show where the teeth are and where the bridges are.
We can show you examples of each and you can decide how much the difference makes to you.
A dental bridge attempts to bridge the distance between two supports, whether those supports are natural teeth or dental implants. As a result, in a dental bridge, implants or teeth have to support more force than they would if they were not bridging the gap.
We work hard to balance your bite forces, but it may be at the time of your dental implants, we may have concerns that a bridge might be subjected to adverse forces, and we’ll recommend individual dental implants instead.
The most crucial factor for dental implants is having enough bone to support them. To get individual dental implants, you have to have sufficient bone in place for each implant. With a dental bridge, we can work around areas that don’t have enough bone.
You might not have enough bone in the areas in question if you’ve been wearing a partial denture, if you have previously had a dental bridge that was supported by your natural teeth, or if you didn’t immediately replace a missing tooth. Gum disease is also a common cause of diminished bone in areas where teeth are lost.
We Always Give Quality Results
Whether we opt for a dental bridge or individual dental implants in your situation, we always select a treatment option that will give you optimal cosmetic and functional results.