When you lose a tooth, we can offer a replacement option that fills the gap and offers a lifelike appearance too! Dental bridges are natural in appearance and can stay in place for up to 15 years. In today’s blog, your Houston, TX, dentist talks about how we employ dental bridges to replace your missing teeth.
The Factors Behind Tooth Loss
Why do we end up with missing teeth? This is often due to oral health issues, such as untreated cavities or infections. An injury could be the cause too. The most common reason is the advanced stage of gum disease known as periodontitis. At this stage, the tissues connecting your teeth and gums become severed, which leads to missing teeth. When you lose teeth, even a single tooth, this could lead to misalignment, a higher risk of tooth decay and periodontal issues, and even TMJ disorder and bruxism (teeth grinding). The missing teeth could also impact how you eat and speak, and lead to embarrassment in social situations. But our team can tackle minor tooth loss with a lifelike dental bridge.
Creating a Custom Dental Prosthetic
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to treating your tooth loss. We will custom-make your dental bridge to create a prosthetic that looks good, offers a balanced bite, and can last for years to come. In most cases, we will numb the abutment teeth and then remove structure from them to make room for the crown portion. We will take detailed digital images and measurements of the areas to aid in the design and fabrication of your custom prosthetic. The bridge will contain new teeth with crowns on one or both ends. The protistic is made from materials like ceramic, which can be shaded to blend with the smile and also handles daily bite forces with ease.
Securing Your Dental Prosthetic
Traditional options will be placed by securing the crown options to the abutment teeth, the ones we removed structure from. The prosthetic can last up to 15 years in some cases. We could also insert one or two dental implants into the jaw and connect the crowns to them, preserving tooth structure and offering a prosthetic that can last decades to come. We can help you decide which is best for you, so you can enjoy a full smile again. If you have any questions about how we diagnose and treat tooth loss, or about our bridges in particular, then contact our team today.
Do You Have a Missing Tooth?
If you have lost one or more of your teeth, then we can help with a lifelike and custom dental prosthetic. To schedule an appointment, call Healthy Smiles in Houston, TX, at (281) 974-4494.
