Our team wants to help bridge the exposed gap in your smile, the one caused by one or more missing teeth. With a dental bridge, we can provide a full smile with results that look natural and last for years to come. In today’s blog, your Ankeny, IA, dentist talks about helping your smile with a dental bridge.
The Impact of Missing Teeth
Losing teeth could mean serious trouble for your smile. You may end up with gaps in your smile due to advanced tooth decay or an untreated infection, or even due to an injury to your face or jaw. Periodontitis, the advanced stage of gum disease, is often the number one cause of tooth loss. When you lose teeth, even just one, this could allow nearby teeth to drift, which creates misalignment. Poor alignment not only alters the appearance of your smile, but increases the risk of complications like tooth decay and gum disease.
Missing teeth could also upset the balance of your bite and boost the risk of issues like TMJ disorder and bruxism (teeth grinding). To avoid these complications and restore your ability to eat your favorite foods again, we can address missing teeth with a dental bridge.
Creating Your Dental Bridge
The dental prosthetic is designed to address between one and three missing teeth in a row. To start the process, we need to remove structure from each tooth sitting on each side of the gap in your smile. Known as abutment teeth, these will be essential for supporting your new prosthetic. We then take images and impressions of the teeth and the gap, which we use in a lab setting to design and craft your custom prosthetic.
The prosthetic will be made from durable and lifelike ceramic, shaded to blend with your smile. Each bridge contains new teeth with crowns on either side. When your prosthetic is ready, you will return to the office for placement.
Securing Your New Teeth
Our team will connect the crowns to the abutment teeth to secure your new teeth firmly in place, with a traditional one lasting about 10 to 15 years on average. For some, we could insert one to two dental implants and connect the new teeth to these, which helps strengthen the jaw and allows your new teeth to stay in place for decades to come. If you have any questions about our custom prosthetics, then contact our team today to start your tooth replacement journey.
Dental Impressions Take On Tooth Loss
If you have lost a tooth or as many as three in a row, then we can help! To schedule an appointment for tooth replacement, then call Dental Impressions in Ankeny, IA today at (515) 965-0230.
