Implant-Supported Bridges
For patients who have lost multiple teeth, an implant-supported bridge provides a secure and permanent solution.
Replacing missing or decayed teeth is crucial for maintaining long-term oral health. A missing tooth can lead to more problems than just an unsightly gap in your smile. It can cause your remaining teeth to shift, altering your smile’s alignment and potentially affecting your facial aesthetics.
Missing teeth can also impact your ability to chew nutritious foods. Other tooth replacement options, like removable partial dentures, are not as stable as implant-supported bridges. An implant-supported bridge can restore most of your chewing function, allowing you to enjoy your favorite foods again.
What Is An Implant-Supported Bridge?
While a standard dental bridge can address most issues related to tooth loss, an implant-supported bridge offers several advantages. Traditional bridges depend on adjacent teeth for support, requiring these otherwise healthy teeth to be reshaped before the bridge is cemented in place. In contrast, an implant-supported bridge does not require grinding down healthy teeth to replace a missing tooth.
How Many Implants Are Used?
Replacing missing or decayed teeth is crucial for maintaining long-term oral health. A missing tooth can cause more than just an unsightly gap; it can lead to your remaining teeth shifting, altering your smile’s alignment and facial aesthetics.
Dental implants can prevent ongoing bone loss that typically occurs when a tooth is removed. Without a tooth, the jawbone no longer receives the pressure signals from biting that stimulate bone regeneration. Consequently, the bone begins to resorb, causing the jawbone to shrink in that area. An implant-supported bridge helps transmit bite force to the bone, keeping it stimulated and reducing bone resorption. Although some bone loss may still occur under the middle of the bridge, it is significantly less than with a removable bridge or no bridge at all.
Missing teeth can also hinder your ability to chew nutritious foods. Other tooth replacement options, like removable partial dentures, lack the stability of implant-supported bridges. An implant-supported bridge can restore most of your chewing function, allowing you to eat whatever you like again.
Procedure Overview
The process of receiving an implant-supported bridge requires multiple visits.
- The first step involves placing the dental implants.
- After the implants are placed, it typically takes several months for the bone and gums to heal around them.
- Once the implant sites have healed, the dentist will take impressions of your mouth to create a mold.
- Using this model of your teeth, a lab technician will craft your custom crown, matching the color to your existing teeth.
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- Using the model of your teeth, the lab technician will create a custom crown that matches the color of your existing teeth.
- When the final bridge is ready, the dentist will attach it to the implants by either screwing or cementing it in place.