Navigating tasks like chewing, biting, and speaking can become more difficult if you are working around an absent tooth. A stable dental prosthetic, one that enjoys firm, dependable support, should help eliminate these complications. Many people find that support from a dental bridge. There are two ways your dentist can keep your bridge in place. One method involves using dental crowns to hold the replacement tooth in its proper spot. This provides permanent support without calling for any surgical work. The alternative is to use a dental implant to secure the bridge, a method that does involve oral surgery, but does not require modifications to other teeth.
Using Dental Crowns To Support Your Dental Bridge
Each of the teeth adjacent to your missing tooth will need to have a crown placed on them. The pontic, or the replacement tooth, is situated between them, and secured dependably enough to avoid movement. The crowns, and the replacement tooth, can be constructed to look like natural teeth, to limit any adverse impact on how you look. While this allows you to secure a prosthetic without oral surgery, there are benefits from an implant that this method will not provide.
Using A Dental Implant To Support Your Dental Bridge
Your dentist can affix your bridge to a dental implant that has been placed. This eliminates the requirement that you have dental crowns placed on teeth that are potentially healthy. While oral surgery is needed to place the implant, this technique actually benefits the health of your jaw. The implant acts like a tooth root in that it stimulates the jaw, and that stimulation helps prevent bone loss.