Bridges

What to Expect During Your Bridge Fabrication Appointments:

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When you are missing one or more teeth in a row, a dental bridge is a beautiful and reliable way to "bridge the gap." It is a permanent restoration that uses the healthy teeth on either side of the space to support a lifelike replacement tooth. Unlike a denture, a bridge is bonded in place, meaning it doesn't come out and feels just like your natural teeth.

 

Why You Might Need a Dental Bridge

A bridge does much more than just fix your smile's appearance. It plays a vital role in your overall oral health by:

• Preventing Shifting: When a tooth is missing, the neighboring teeth often start to tilt or "drift" into the empty space. This can ruin your alignment and make it hard to clean your teeth.

• Restoring Your Bite: Missing teeth change how your upper and lower jaws meet. A bridge restores a balanced bite, which prevents strain on your jaw joints.

• Maintaining Face Shape: Teeth support your cheeks and lips. A bridge helps maintain your natural facial structure and prevents that "sunken" look that can happen with tooth loss.

 

The Process: Crafting Your Bridge

In our office, we take a traditional, high-precision approach to creating bridges. The process usually takes two appointments.

 

Appointment 1: Preparation and Impressions

To make a bridge, the teeth on both sides of the gap (called anchor teeth) must be prepared. The dentist will gently shape these teeth by removing a small amount of enamel. This ensures the bridge can slide over them securely without feeling bulky. Once the teeth are shaped, we take a PVS Impression. This is a specialized, rubber-like material that captures a perfect mold of your teeth. We send this mold to a professional dental lab, where a technician hand-crafts your bridge using high-strength porcelain that is custom-matched to the shade of your natural smile. Before you leave, the dentist will make you a temporary bridge. This protects your prepared teeth and fills the gap while the lab is busy making your permanent one.

 

Appointment 2: The Final Placement

A couple of weeks later, you return for the final step. The dentist removes the temporary bridge and tries on the custom lab-made one. We check several important factors: The Fit: Ensuring the bridge sits perfectly against the gums. The Appearance: Checking that the color and shape look natural. The Bite: Making sure you can chew comfortably. After any adjustments are made, the bridge is bonded into place with professional dental cement.