When you lose natural teeth, whether due to injury or poor oral health, you need to replace them. Otherwise, serious complications with how you eat and speak could develop, and you could risk further tooth loss. But we can help! The team at Sunny Smiles Family Dentistry can help with a custom dental bridge.
The Dangers of Losing A Natural Tooth
How does missing a tooth impact your smile? Missing teeth could occur due to a variety of issues. For example, advanced tooth decay and infection, periodontitis (advanced gum disease), or even injury could lead to missing teeth. When you have a gap in your smile, this could increase the risk of dental misalignment, TMJ disorder, and even bruxism (teeth grinding). You could also have issues eating or even speaking clearly if you have a larger gap of two to three teeth in a row. Your jawbone could weaken too! The lack of tooth roots in the area could mean that portion grows weak and the risk of further tooth loss increases. But with a bridge, we can fill the gap and keep your smile intact, particularly if we support them with dental implants.
Creating a Lifelike Replacement
To create a traditional bridge, we will numb the abutment teeth, the natural ones on each side of the open space in your smile. We then take images and impressions of them and the gap to design and craft your new teeth. The prosthetic contains one or more new teeth with crowns on each side, made from a ceramic that can handle daily bite forces and be color-matched to blend with the smile. We then attach the crown portions to the abutment teeth to keep your prosthetic in place for 10 to 15 years on average. But we can also support them with dental implants!
Securing Your New Dental Bridge
With dental implants, we will insert one to two dental implants into the jaw and then connect the crown portions of the bridge to them. This means no need to lose natural tooth structure, and the implants keep the jaw intact and prevent loss of mass and density, so your smile remains intact and you avoid further tooth loss. They can last longer too, decades in some cases.
If you have any questions about our traditional or implant-supported dental bridges, then reach out to our team today to learn more and start your tooth replacement process! A full and healthy smile is always possible, and we are ready to help with restorative and prosthetic dentistry.
Call Sunny Smiles for Tooth Loss Treatment
Our team wants to help fill open gaps in your smile with a custom dental prosthetic. To find out more about our office or to schedule an appointment, please call Sunny Smiles Family Dentistry at 915.849.9000 today.