Bridges & Dental Implants

Aside from standard dentures, there are other forms of prostheses in use in dentistry nowadays. The fact is that most people do not have a whole set of teeth missing, necessitating dentures, but rather are missing teeth here and there, leaving empty areas in their mouth. Of course, no one likes to have gaps in their mouth since it makes you less likely to smile and impairs your oral hygiene. The good news is that there are options for a mouth with some empty areas, and bridges and dental implants are two of the most common. These prostheses are intended to fill in the gaps in your mouth so well that only a trained eye can tell the difference.

Bridges

The way bridges work is that they use the adjacent teeth for support. You can have a bridge of up to three teeth, provided that there is support on either side. The bridges essentially will clip onto the healthy teeth and should fit properly in the gap. The dentist may have to do a little filing just to make the bridge fit right, but this is not to the detriment of the teeth. Bridges also can be removed easily.

Implants

Dental implants are permanent bridges except they do not require using the adjacent teeth for support. These implants are notable because while they are more expensive than bridges, they are quite strong and can handle the duty of a regular tooth. The best part about implants is that they are designed to last for a long time. While the price tag for some may seem a bit prohibitive, the reality is that there are amazing benefits that you get with implants that you won’t get with other types of dental prosthetics, durability being the most prominent of the benefits.