If you have a gap in your smile due to a missing tooth, you will want to replace that tooth as soon as possible. When you leave a space between your teeth, your nearby remaining teeth will try to shift to fill that space. Although your teeth are anchored into your jawbone by their roots, each tooth keeps the other teeth in place and prevents them from shifting and moving. Once they begin to shift, you can end up with a mouthful of crooked teeth. Rather than leave the health and esthetics of your smile to fate, you may want to replace your tooth with a dental bridge.

A Fixed Dental Bridge

A dental bridge consists of the replacement tooth (pontic) and a crown on each side. What you should know about a fixed dental bridge is that the teeth adjacent to the space left by your missing tooth need to be prepared to anchor the bridge. This preparation involves reducing the size of the tooth to accommodate the size and thickness of the crowns that are slipped over the prepared tooth structure and permanently bonded for a strong and stable restoration. Due to the removal of healthy tooth structure, a fixed dental bridge is considered minimally invasive.

Benefits of a Dental Bridge

Dental bridges provide many advantages including:

• They restore the attractiveness of your smile.
• They reinstate your bite function and your ability to speak. clearly and chew properly.
• They help maintain your facial structure.
• They help distribute your bite forces.
• They prevent your other teeth from drifting out of position.