Your smile is one of the first things that people notice about you. Because of this, it is important to strive for a beautiful smile that stands out and looks great. If you are currently missing teeth, you have a few different options available to you. If you are missing many teeth, a denture or partial denture is a good choice. If you are missing a few teeth, you can choose either a bridge or implants to replace those missing teeth. There are many differences between a bridge and implants that you might want to know about.
What Are Bridges and What Are Implants?
A dental bridge is a row of (often) porcelain mounted to metal teeth that will fit onto existing teeth to replace either one or two teeth that are currently missing. When you get fitted for a bridge, the two teeth surrounding a missing tooth will be filed down so that the bridge can be cemented comfortably on top. There will be a dummy tooth in the middle that does not get cemented because it is simply sitting on top of the gum line and there to replace the missing tooth that was once there.
An implant is a surgical procedure that actually places a small rod into the bone structure of the mouth. This rod will actually fuse to the bone itself, normally within about three months time. In general, this metal rod will act like an actual tooth root and a single crown can be mounted to the implant to replace a tooth that was missing there. Even though this is a surgical procedure and it does take some time for the implant to take effect, it is a more beneficial choice when looking to replace missing teeth.
Why Choose Implants?
The reason implants are more preferred when it comes to replacing missing teeth over the use of a bridge is because you are not taking away from the integrity of other teeth. As stated before, a bridge can only be placed in the mouth if the surrounding teeth are filed down to small nubs so that the bridge can smoothly fit on top. Because of this, your dental professional is taking away from the integrity and quality of other teeth in the mouth simply to replace just one.
With a dental implant, you are focusing simply on the tooth or teeth that are missing. The metal rod is implanted into the space of the missing tooth, allowing your surrounding teeth to go untouched so that you do not have to worry about having them filed down. Most dentists prefer implants because it helps to save all of your existing teeth without the need of filing them down and placing a fake tooth on top of the filed-down one. Having an implant procedure done is something that you will want to discuss with your dentist to see if you are a viable candidate.