Viera dentist, Dentist in Viera, FL

Cosmetic Bridges

A bridge is a tooth replacement option when deciding how to deal with a missing tooth or teeth. We strongly recommend you consider placing a dental implant where your missing tooth was. Please see the "dental implant" section. You must understand the consequences of not replacing your missing teeth. Within the first 6 months after a tooth is removed, you may lose up to 60% of the available bone volume. Teeth may shift and affect how you chew or cause periodontal disease. It is very important for you to replace these missing teeth. Tooth loss can affect the way you eat, speak, and the alignment of other teeth in your mouth.

Types of Bridges

The teeth adjacent to the missing space is what will hold the bridge in place. A bridge is permanently cemented over these adjacent teeth after tooth reduction. There are 3 main types of bridges. All porcelain, porcelain-metal, or all metal. We use the strongest porcelain and highest quality metal available. For the most natural looking and cosmetic result, we recommed an all porcelain bridge.

Procedure

We start by adequately numbing your teeth. All decay, fractures, and left over filling materials are removed. We then place new white filling material in the tooth to restore the tooth to ideal form and contours. This is called a build-up. We then will reduce the teeth 360 degrees to provide enough room for the crown. Once the tooth reduction is complete, we take a final impression of the prepared tooth. This impression is used by the laboratory to fabricate your final bridge. After the impression, we will construct you a temporary white acrylic bridge that is temporarly cemented over your tooth. You will wear your temporary bridge for 3 weeks while your permanent crown is fabricated by the laboratory. At your delivery appointment, we will remove the temporary bridge, clean the tooth, and try in your permanent bridge. We will then take an x-ray to verify it fits perfectly. Once the fit is confirmed, we will permanently cement the new bridge on your tooth. The dental assistant will then provide you with post op instructions and home care protocol.