DENTAL BRIDGES, EAGAN MINNESOTA, 651-687-0789

While having a gap in your teeth allows for fabricating a cool story about your hockey heroics, it can also be potentially dangerous to your dental health. A missing tooth, or teeth, can cause a shift in your bite that can result in serious mouth pain. A dental bridge is a restorative option used to fill this gap, using the surrounding teeth as anchors. Typically, porcelain crowns are placed over the surrounding teeth, and the false tooth, known as a pontic, is fused between them.

There are three types of dental bridges used today:

1. Traditional fixed bridge – The most common type, which as stated above, involves porcelain crowns being placed over the two surrounding teeth and being used as anchors to hold the false tooth in place. The false tooth is typically made of either porcelain fused to metal or ceramics.

2. Cantilever bridge – In circumstances where teeth are only present on a single side of the gap, a cantilever bridge is used. These types of bridges are usually utilized in places that don’t require much intense chewing, such as the front of your mouth.

3. Resin-bonded bridge – In other areas of the mouth that see less chewing stress, a resin-bonded bridge may be used. In this bridge, metal or resin wings are bonded to the surrounding teeth with resin to hold a false, tooth in place.

How it’s done:

At least two visits are required in order to successfully place a dental bridge. During your first visit, steps for the preparation of the surrounding teeth’s crowns are taken. Next, an impression or digital scan of your teeth will be taken and sent to a lab in order to create the permanent bridge. A temporary bridge will be installed to offer you protection until your next visit.

At the second visit, the temporary bridge is removed and the new bridge received from the laboratory is fitted and adjusted. Multiple visits may be necessary to check and adjust the fit.

If you have any questions concerning these dental bridge procedures, call us today! Reach Northwood Dental at (651) 687-0789 or our online appointment request page.