Dental bridges are one of the most common solutions for replacing multiple adjacent missing teeth. Replacing those missing teeth with a Bridge not only restores the cosmetic appearance of your smile, but also restores your ability to speak and eat naturally, protects your bite from unnatural changes, and can help you to avoid symptoms of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction.
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When it comes to dental bridges, you have two choices: Traditional Dental Bridges supported by crowns placed over healthy teeth on either side of the gap in your smile; and implant-supported dental bridges in Port Moody that don’t rely on your natural teeth at all, but that are supported by implants rooted into your jaw. Here’s an outline of the pros and cons of both options.
Traditional dental bridges
Advantages of traditional dental bridges
Many dentists can provide a customized dental bridge to solve the gap in your smile in a single appointment through the CEREC system. Even if getting same-day dental bridges near you is not an option, it usually only takes two appointments over the course of two weeks to obtain a non-implant-supported bridge.
Because there are fewer and less-invasive procedures required to provide traditional dental bridges compared to implant-supported bridges, traditional bridges that do not use implants are also much less expensive. They’re also accessible for patients who can not, for medical or other reasons, go through oral surgery.
Disadvantages of traditional dental bridges
The most significant disadvantage of a traditional bridge is the fact that neighbouring teeth must be filed down. Material must be removed from teeth on either side of a gap in your teeth to allow a crown to be slipped over those neighbouring teeth. Ideally, those dental crowns in Port Moody will protect the modified teeth completely, but the removal of that material does increase the risk of structural weakness, tooth decay, and damages developing over time.
Traditional dental bridges have a shorter lifespan than an implant-supported bridge. Non-implant-supported bridges generally need to be replaced every 10 to 20 years.
Implant-supported dental bridges
Advantages of implant-supported bridges
Implant-supported bridges are the option that offers the most stable solution thanks to the support provided by your jaw. They’re also the most reliable option because they don’t rely on the health of any neighbouring teeth in the way that crowns that support a traditional bridge do.
If you take care of your dental and oral health and attend your dentist regularly so they can keep an eye on the condition of your teeth, gums, and jaw, an implant-supported bridge may last a lifetime.
Disadvantages of implant-supported bridges
The process of getting implant-supported bridges from a Port Moody dentist is much longer than that of getting traditional bridges. Thanks to advances in same-day dental procedures, non-implant-supported bridges can be provided in a single day. On the other hand, the entire process of getting implant-supported dentures will take many months. That time is required to complete the following steps in the process: surgery to place the implants; recovery from surgery; three to six months for the implant and bone to fuse; and the attachment of your final bridge. If you require procedures to improve your bone density before implants can be placed, the timelines will be even longer.
Maybe it goes without saying, but you should also know that getting implant-supported dental bridges near you is a much more invasive process than traditional dentures. Implant-supported dentures require surgery to place implants in your jaw, whereas traditional dentures require only modifications to natural teeth to allow for the placement of crowns.
Which option is right for you? That’s a question we can’t answer in an online article like this. To get an answer to that question, arrange for an assessment at a dentist near you who is familiar with the condition of your teeth and jaw, and with your lifestyle and goals.
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