Helping You To Bridge The Gap Between Damaged Teeth & Your Self Confidence

Missing one or more teeth can hurt your self-confidence. But not having all of your teeth also affects your bite and what foods you can eat. For a better quality of life and a complete bite, your dentist sometimes Preparing to implement a dental bridgerecommends dental bridges. Bridges fill the gaps of lost teeth and enable you to maintain better health.

Dental bridges in Columbus Ohio will cement onto existing teeth or implants to help improve your oral health. These existing or implanted teeth support the bridge for normal chewing and stability. The bridge includes one or more pontics that look like teeth to replace your missing natural ones.

Types of Dental Bridges

Bridges keep your remaining teeth in place, as much as they give you an artificial chewing surface where you lost your teeth. But one set of dental services Columbus Ohio offers never suits all patients. The same is true of dental bridges, which include four different types. Each of these types works differently toward the same goal, that of completing your bite.

The four types of dental bridges Columbus Ohio provides include:

  • Traditional
  • Cantilever
  • Maryland
  • Implant-supported

Traditional Dental Bridges

Traditional dental bridges in Columbus Ohio suit many needs of patients. These bridges gain support and stability from dental crowns placed over surrounding abutment teeth. False teeth, the pontics, suspended between these abutment teeth on the framework of the bridge.

This type of bridge works when you have teeth on each side of the gap where your missing teeth once stood. It also works well for molars, your back teeth where most chewing takes place.

For a traditional bridge, you need some enamel removed from each of your supporting teeth. This is standard for the placement of crowns. But it means you can no longer use these teeth in their natural form without crowns if you later seek a dental implant or other bridge for your missing teeth.

Cantilever Bridges and Maryland Bridges

Cantilever dental bridges in Columbus Ohio work much like traditional bridges. But for a cantilever, only one abutment tooth on one side of the gap supports the bridge. With only one tooth supporting the bridge, that tooth, and its crown bear a lot of pressure from chewing. This can damage the single support tooth and may cause tooth loss.

Maryland bridges work as an alternative to traditional bridges. But instead of suspending a pontic on a bridge between two crowned teeth, two natural teeth support the framework for the pontic. This bridge cemented onto the backs of your surrounding teeth enables you to maintain natural tooth appearance without crowns. This means you continue using your teeth in their natural form if you later decide to remove the bridge.

The downside of Maryland bridges is the framework’s limitations. Bridge strength is dependent on the strength of cement resin holding the structure in place. This makes these bridges best suited for teeth not subjected to strong biting and chewing force. Another frequent problem is the bridge obstructing the bite or gums.

Implant-Supported Bridges

Implant-supported bridges work well when you suffer multiple missing teeth. For these bridges, dental implants provide support. This type of bridge usually includes one implant per tooth replacement. But sometimes a pontic is held in place by two surrounding implant-supported crowns.

This type of bridge feels most natural because it uses implants. But to achieve this comfort and stability you must go through two surgeries. The first procedure places the implants and the second one places the bridge. The whole process takes about five months or more for completion, due to waiting periods to allow gum healing.

Other Dental Services in Columbus OH

Besides dental bridges, your South High Dental dentist provides a range of general dentistry, restorative dentistry and cosmetic dentistry services Columbus Ohio offers.

These services include:

For your next visit and to obtain more information about dental bridges, call the South High Dental office today at 614.363.2462