Just like your family doctor, your dentist may work with dental specialists to provide you with the best care possible.
Learn more »Prevent problems early. Your child's first dental visit should occur by age one or within six months of when you see the first tooth.
Learn more »Dental care during pregnancy is not only safe, regular dental visits support your health and your baby's.
Learn more »Most dental disease is preventable—starting with these five steps to take at home.
Learn more »Clenching or grinding your teeth (often at night) may be the reason and can also cause damage to your teeth and jaw.
Learn more »Your dentist may recommend a number of treatment options to replace missing teeth, such as a denture.
Learn more »A bridge is fixed dental device used to replace one or more missing teeth. Bridges fuse an artificial tooth to adjacent teeth and/or dental implants (depending on the health of the other teeth).
To prepare for the bridge, a crown is prepared on the support teeth on either side of the missing tooth/teeth. These teeth are used as anchors on which the tooth is cemented. A bridge may also be fixed to dental implants if the surrounding teeth are not healthy and/or more than one tooth is missing.
If several teeth are missing a fixed bridge may not be possible and your dentist may recommend a denture or an implant.
A bridge is one of the most permanent, long-term restorations available to replace a missing tooth. The lifespan of a bridge depends on the strength of the material used (porcelain, porcelain fused to metal, metal, composite), the length of the span of missing teeth bridged (longer bridges must withstand higher stress) and the quality of the underlying teeth that are supporting the bridge.
As with natural teeth, how you care for your bridge will also factor in to its lifespan. With appropriate daily care, eating a balanced diet and regular examinations you can expect your bridge to last for many years.
Care must be taken to clean under the bridge to prevent decay at the margins of the support teeth. Speak to your dentist about any other care considerations and frequency of recall examinations.