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What is a Fixed Dental Bridge & Their Uses

what is a fixed dental bridge

Missing a tooth can affect your smile, confidence, and even daily chewing. A fixed dental bridge is a reliable solution that restores missing teeth and helps your smile look and function naturally again. Want to know if it’s right for you? Call us today at (512) 863-7561 to book your consultation and take the first step toward a confident smile.

To restore the dental function and beauty, fixed dental bridges are often recommended. Dental bridges are typically used to replace a missing tooth, with two supports on both sides. The support can even be a tooth or an implant. However, the prosthetic or false tooth in the middle is called a pontic.

When do you need a fixed dental bridge?



Individuals with several missing teeth and those who want to improve their dental function are the ideal candidates for a fixed dental bridge. After placing the implant, we recommend maintaining it. If the implant is maintained, then we usually do not go for a bone resorption process, as the bone already has a support to hold on to. We also restore the patient’s normal bite, which helps him to eat normally and also maintain his oral function in the long run.

If a person has a missing tooth, then instead of going for a dental bridge, we will recommend a dental implant, as placing a dental bridge requires weakening the supporting teeth, which is against our practice of trying to be less invasive. When two adjacent teeth are missing, we again go for placing two dental implants, which maintains the long-term stability of the healthy teeth by not making a long dental bridge.

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Benefits of Fixed Dental bridges



One of the most commonly used dental procedures includes dental bridges. Some of the benefits of fixed dental bridges are:

  • ● A missing tooth usually affects biting and can also result in slight facial asymmetry due to lesser distance between the nose and chin. Dental bridges help such patients in improving their appearance as well as restoring their dental function.

  • ● In cases of absence of more than one tooth, dental bridges are recommended instead of dental implants, mostly because of their economical nature.

  • ● Fixed dental bridge are usually strong and can last for a long time, especially when there are not more than two false teeth between the two supporting teeth or implants. Your dentist carefully checks your bite before fixing the bridge. Dental bridges can last for a long time if you maintain them properly.

  • ● Although they have less stability than dental implants, they are more stable than a prosthesis. Also, dental implants are usually a fixed dental solution.

Disadvantages of fixed dental bridges



One of the main drawbacks of fixed dental bridges is that, in order to fix them, the two supporting healthy teeth need to be ground first, making this process much more invasive than dental implants. Therefore, in order to avoid such invasive procedures, we recommend other treatment options like dental inlays or dental veneers, which are mainly based on dental adhesion rather than using tight pressure to fit them.

What are the Different Types of Dental Bridge and Which One Do I Need?



  • 1- Traditional Dental bridge:
    This type of dental bridge can only be placed when healthy teeth are present on both the adjacent sides to provide support. The false tooth, either one or more, is usually attached with the help of a dental crown to teeth on both sides. This is the most popular type of dental bridge; however, as discussed earlier, instead of fixing dental bridges between two healthy teeth, we usually recommend dental implants.

  • 2-Cantilever dental bridge:
    These types of bridges, although similar to the traditional bridges, are not usually recommended by us, as in these types of bridges, the false tooth or prosthesis is supported by a single tooth or a dental crown.

  • 3- Maryland Dental Bridge:
    In this type of bridge, the supporting teeth do not need to be ground; instead, the bridge is attached to the adjacent teeth with the help of a metal or porcelain framework, which is mixed on the bc side of both adjacent teeth.They are usually used as temporary teeth while waiting for the implant to be fixed, typically to improve the patient’s smile and overall appearance. This usually happens when it takes a long time for the implant to heal and completely join to the bone

  • 4- Fixed bridge on implants:
    When there are several tooth absences, then fixed bridges are an ideal option. They are generally screwed to the dental implant rather than being mixed between two healthy teeth. Prosthodontics or dental rehabilitation specialists first check properly and decide the safest spot to place the implant so that the dental function and aesthetics can be restored.

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