bridges

Bridges are false teeth that are fused between one or more dental restorations to fill in areas left by missing teeth – many people who have one or more missing teeth can be candidates for a dental bridge.

A bridge is a false tooth, fixed to adjacent teeth. There are many designs of bridges for use in different situations: they are usually a series of crowns joined together with a false tooth suspended between them. Sometimes it can be a false tooth attached to existing teeth by means of adhesive tabs.

The preparation and procedure used for a bridge is similar to those for a crown, with the teeth either side of the gap being reduced and crowned and a false tooth of the same materials fixed between them.

Some older crowns may have an obvious dark line around the gumline or may appear greyish if they have a metal core. The modern materials now available, however, mean that the shade and translucency of natural teeth can be very closely matched and a good bridge, if well fitted, can appear perfectly natural.

A bridge should be cleaned in the same way as natural teeth, though to clean a bridge you may need special miniature bottle brushes or floss handlers to clean under the false tooth. Flossing is particularly important to clean the edge where a brush cannot reach.

This depends on the material used, but you can expect a bridge to last many years. Problems tend to occur in the surrounding gums and the tooth root, rather than the bridge itself and, over time, the appearance of the surrounding teeth may change, making the bridge more noticeable. The prime danger to the bridge is decay or gum disease occurring where the edge of the bridge joins the tooth, so good oral hygiene is very important.