Dental Bridges

A bridge is a dental restoration that replaces one or more missing teeth. It “bridges the space” between two teeth.

There are many types of bridges available to patients. There are bridges that patients remove daily to clean, these are called “removable bridges”. The more popular type of bridge is a “fixed bridge”. As the name implies these bridges are cemented into place, they are not removed to clean, and they function most like our own natural teeth.

The most natural of all bridges are implant bridges. These bridges are attached to dental implants removing the concerns about decay, root canals treatment or fracture.

Our teeth are designed to give us good function when we chew, to maintain the appropriate spaces for our teeth so they are not misaligned, to support our TMJ joint so we don’t have jaw joint pain and to maintain our appearance. If spaces are left unfilled, the space will cause the surrounding teeth to drift out of position. This can cause gum disease, early breakdown of our teeth and tooth decay. This can cause further tooth loss.

Bridges also correct problems with our bite. They improve our ability to chew, they help our speech and they improve our appearance by preventing the collapse of our facial features that can cause premature wrinkles and age lines.