What to Expect When Replacing Your Missing Teeth with Dental Bridges

Missing teeth can devastate anyone’s self-confidence, making them self-conscious when smiling, laughing, and talking. Here at Dhir Dentistry in San Diego, California, Dr. Sanjay Dhir and his team take great pride in getting to know their patients and providing dental services to help avoid tooth loss when possible. However, sometimes tooth loss is unavoidable. In such cases, Dr. Dhir will take the time to review all your restoration options, such as non-removable fixed dental bridges. 

A Bridge to A Healthier Smile

Dental bridges can be custom designed in various ways to reflect the patient’s needs. Traditional bridges require that a patient have at least some adjacent natural teeth used as abutments or “anchors” to keep the bridge stable.

The abutments use dental crowns that reinforce the tooth, providing the needed strength for the bridge between them. For example, if you need a single tooth replaced, then a pontic, or “replacement tooth,” is crafted and fused to a set of dental crowns on either side, which is used to cover both abutment teeth.

The size of the anchor teeth must also be slightly reduced to provide enough room for the crowns to fit over them. After preparing the natural and pontic teeth, the new bridge is bonded to the anchor teeth.

Because the pontic is held securely or fixed to the crowned adjacent teeth, you can avoid a lot of the issues associated with removable conventional dental prosthetics, which include:

• Underlying tissues and bone naturally shrinking over time, causing a poor fit
• Requires more maintenance, such as specialized cleaning techniques and care products
• Unnatural appearance of the stainless-steel framework that often wraps around natural teeth to hold the dentures in place

Bridge Maintenance

With fixed dental bridges, you care for them just as you would for natural teeth. However, cleaning the space beneath your fixed bridge can be a bit tricky. You can efficiently address this concern using an interdental brush, pick, or a floss threader. Here at Dhir Dentistry, we are happy to show you the best ways to use these devices to clean your fixed bridge efficiently, allowing you to enjoy using your fixed dental bridge for many years to come.

Learn More About Dental Bridges Service in San Diego

To find out more, call Dhir Dentistry at (858) 358-5801 to schedule your consultation with Dr. Dhir. 

Share this Article