What is a Dental Bridge?
Grand Rapids tooth bridge is a restorative option available for someone who wants to replace missing teeth. From its name, a dental bridge is meant to bridge a gap which is caused by the loss of tooth. A dental appliance has three components, two crowns found at each end and an appliance that serves like an anchorage or abutment on the healthy adjacent teeth found next to a gap while a middle crown serves as a false tooth or a pontic. When the teeth around are not healthy to hold a bridge, then a dental implant has to be used. A dental bridge has to be fixed and an abutment crown has to be cemented on healthy teeth or on a dental implant. A bridge can be made using many materials like silver or gold, porcelain fused into a metal or porcelain.
You will be required to visit the dentist two times before the bridge can be completed. During the first dental visit, your dentist will inject a local anesthetic in the tooth that will be used as an abutment so that the procedure can be comfortable. Healthy teeth which serve like abutment may be prepared through resizing and reshaping so that they can accommodate the crowns better in order to hold a pontic in their place. A dental impression of the abutment is made and it is sent to a dental laboratory where a custom-fit dental bridge will be made. A temporary bridge is then placed in order to protect and prepare an abutment. With the second visit, the temporary bridge is then removed and replaced with the custom fit bridge which is then adjusted to ensure a proper fitting. When the fitting is right, it will then be cemented in place permanently.
When you use a dental bridge, it will:
Replace a missing tooth
Restore function of teeth such as speaking and chewing properly
Prevent remaining teeth to shift and it does not cause any problem with the bite
Reduce bone loss risks since it maintains the face structure
Bridges are fixed permanently and this prevents any movement of dentures.
