What is a bridge?
It is a dental restoration that fills the space where one or more teeth are missing. A bridge restores your bite and helps keep the natural shape of your face.The teeth work together, when a tooth goes missing then the nearby tooth may tilt or drift into the nearby empty space. The teeth in the opposite jaw may also shift up or down toward the space. The can effect your bite and place stress on your teeth and jaw joints.
A bridge has three parts, a pontic in the middle and a crown or either side. The crowns fit over the prepared teeth next to the gap. The pontic fills the space left by the missing tooth. The bridge is the fixed, or cemented, to the prepared teeth. The bridge is permanent and cannot be taken out of your mouth without a dentist’s help. At the follow-up visit the dentist, the bridge is fitted, adjusted and cemented in place.
By Dr. Ken Hamin