Restore a Complete, Healthy Look to Your Smile
Dental Bridges Summerville
If you are missing teeth, it can have several negative effects on the health and appearance of your smile. A full set of teeth is important in maintaining the balance of your jaw, which in turn prevents the onset of pain in your mandible, shoulders, and neck (a condition often referred to as temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMJ). Missing teeth can also cause your smile to look unhealthy and less attractive, and impair chewing and speaking. Custom-made, natural-looking replacement teeth, dental bridges are placed by Dr. John Hess at our Summerville, South Carolina practice, and can help you regain proper balance in your bite. They can also restore a healthy, symmetrical appearance to your smile. To learn more about the many benefits of dental bridges, please contact our office today.
Placing Dental Bridges
Receiving a dental bridge requires two visits to the dentist. The treatments performed during you first visit will depend upon the method used to anchor your bridge. If you have a dental implant, Dr. Hess will use a special dental putty to make a mold of the implant and adjacent teeth, which will be used to craft your custom dental bridge. If you do not have an implant, the bridge must be anchored by dental crowns placed on adjacent teeth. In this case, the adjacent teeth must be altered to accommodate the crowns. Dr. Hess will remove portions of the adjacent teeth, and take a mold of the gap and altered teeth so that anchoring crowns may be created in addition to the ponitc, or false tooth, which makes up the bridge. The dentist will place temporary crowns on the altered teeth to protect them until your custom restorations are complete.
When you return for your second visit about two weeks later, the dentist will place your bridge, using a strong adhesive to secure your crowns to adjacent teeth, or secure your bridge to your dental implant. Once in place, the pontic will reside in the location of your missing tooth, restoring the functionality and aesthetics of your smile. The dentist will make any needed alterations to your bridge and crowns to ensure a properly balanced bite. Dental bridges are often made of porcelain, giving you a natural-looking restoration that will help your maintain excellent oral health while helping your smile look healthy and symmetrical. Contact our office serving Summerville, Goose Creek and North Charleston, South Carolina today to learn if dental bridges can help you enjoy enhanced dental health.
Dental Bridge Considerations
Dental bridges can be a multi-beneficial solution to your oral health needs, but anyone considering this treatment should know that dental bridges do not last forever. With proper care, you can expect your dental bridge to last between five and 15 years. You can prolong the life of your dental bridge by avoiding hard or sticky foods, and taking care to pull dental floss from back to front when flossing near the bridge, since conventional up-and-down flossing can cause your bridge to become dislodged from its anchor.
Learn More about Dental Bridges
Dental bridges can enhance your oral health, your physical comfort, and your self-esteem. Healthy smiles are beautiful smiles, and dental bridges are a restorative procedure that can help you achieve both. To learn more about how natural-looking dental bridges placed at our Summerville office can help your smile look and feel great, please contact us today.
