Dental Care for All of Us

If you're looking for a replacement for a missing tooth, chances are that you've heard about dental bridges. But like all dental procedures, it can be a bit nerve-racking to go into something like this. If you're scared of the prospect of a dental procedure hurting you, here's what you need to know about dental bridges.

What They Are

Dental bridges, to put it plainly, are artificial teeth that bridge the gap between your remaining natural teeth. That is to say that an artificial tooth (or more than one) has wires attached to its sides that attach to your remaining teeth in order to stay in place. Hence the name "dental bridge."

Pain

If you're worried about pain with this procedure, don't be. There's absolutely no drilling or other invasive procedures performed with dental bridges. The wires are connected to the neighboring teeth - or if necessary, a dental crown. At most, you can expect to feel some pressure on the neighboring teeth for the first few days as you adjust to your new dental bridge. But you shouldn't experience any pain at all.

What to Expect

If you're interested in getting a dental bridge now, then here's what you can expect from the process.

The first step is to go to the dentist's office to be examined and to find out whether you qualify for dental bridges. Keep in mind that you need to have healthy teeth remaining in order for a dental bridge to work. However, dental implants with a crown can sometimes be utilized if no healthy teeth remain or if you only have teeth on one side of your mouth.

Once it's been determined that you're a good candidate, your dentist will take measurements of your teeth and will utilize any dental X-rays and scans that they have from when you still had all your teeth. From there, they'll custom-order a dental bridge made just for you that's the right size and width to match your existing teeth and to fit the gap between them.

Once your bridge is ready, you'll come in to have it put on. Your teeth will be cleaned and the bridge will be put in place and attached on either side to your real teeth. That's literally it! Your bridge is now in place and you can go back to eating normally right away.

Dental bridges provide patients with the confidence they lost when they lost their teeth. If you're tired of having missing teeth and have been holding off out of fear of pain, don't worry about it. You won't be hurting from this procedure, and it can restore your smile to its former beauty.