Gaps in your smile due to tooth loss could be a source of embarrassment, and also have a negative impact on your oral health. To offer replacement for minor tooth loss, we could design and fabricate a custom dental bridge. In today’s blog, your Newport Beach, CA, dental practice talks about our dental bridges.
What Happens When We Lose Teeth
Tooth loss could occur for several reasons. You could lose a tooth due to an injury, or as a result of an untreated cavity or infection. Periodontitis, the advanced stage of gum disease, is often the most common cause of missing teeth. When you lose even one tooth, this gap could cause teeth around it to shift, leading to misalignment and poorer oral health. These changes also upset your bite balance and place pressure on the jaw joints, so you’re more susceptible to TMJ disorder and bruxism (teeth grinding). To avoid these issues and lower the risk of further tooth loss, we may recommend a prosthetic in the form of a dental bridge.
Creating a Dental Prosthetic
Each prosthetic we provide our patients will be custom-made, including our lifelike dental bridges. To begin, we will numb the teeth on each side of the gap and remove structure from them. These are referred to as abutment teeth. Next, we take detailed digital images of them from multiple angles. We combine these to create an impression, allowing us to design and fabricate the completed prosthetic with precision and accuracy. The completed prosthetic will contain your new teeth, known as pontics, with crowns attached to one or both sides. They are made from materials like ceramic, which can ensure daily bite forces and also be shaded to blend with your smile!
Securing Your New Teeth
We then connect the crown portions to the prepared abutment teeth, anchoring your new teeth firmly in place. This prosthetic can last for 10 to 15 years on average! Our team could also discuss inserting one or two dental implants and attaching the prosthetic to these, which prevents the need to remove structure from abutment teeth. The dental implant option can last much longer, as the post act as new roots and prevent the jawbone from losing mass and density following tooth loss, so you have new teeth that can last decades to come!
If you have any questions about treating minor tooth loss with a dental bridge, or about implant dentistry, then contact our team today.
Talk To Your Newport Beach, CA Dentist About Cosmetic Tooth Replacement
Our team offers a lifelike solution to your minor tooth loss with a bridge. To find out more about our solutions for missing teeth, contact Dr. Hofkes at Balboa Dental Surgery at (949) 630-0143 to discuss care today.
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