What is a Dental Bridge?
A bridge may be recommended if you are missing one or more teeth. Gaps left by missing teeth eventually cause the remaining teeth to rotate or shift into the empty spaces, resulting in a bad bite. The imbalance caused by missing teeth can also lead to gum disease and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders. Bridges span the space where the teeth are missing. Bridges are cemented to the adjacent natural teeth or implants surrounding the empty space. These teeth, called abutments, serve as anchors for the bridge.
Replacing missing teeth is important, to prevent stress on other teeth and the shifting of adjacent teeth. A bridge is a permanent solution for missing teeth which will look and feel just like your natural teeth. Unlike dentures, a bridge is permanently fixed in your mouth, giving you increased support and stability as you chew and speak.
To make a bridge, we crown the two teeth either side of the missing teeth and bespoke replacement teeth are fixed to them, therefore ‘bridging the gap’. Because they are custom-made, bridges can restore the natural contour of your arch as well as the proper bite relationship between upper and lower teeth.
