You may lose one or more teeth at an early age or advanced age for several reasons. And if you lose one or some, you would most probably look for a way to fill the gap with an artificial tooth that will support you cosmetically and also by doing all the job that the missing tooth used to do. However, as you may have heard that crushing the bones, chewing gums, and doing other terrible chewing and biting jobs with dentures, which are loose fitting artificial teeth, is not possible. Hence although more pocket-friendly compared to other treatments in orthodontics, dentures have lost much of their popularity through the years, as more practical and promising solutions like dental implants and bridges have come into practice.
What are dental bridges?
The dentists build a bridge by filling the gap using anchors on both sides of the gap. The same happen in dentistry. When you have one or more missing teeth in a row, then the dentist simply fits false teeth made of gold, porcelain or other metal there, which again is not fitted directly on your gum tissue, but rather anchored on the two healthy teeth on either side of the gap. Hence, practically the false teeth hang in between just snugly fitting onto the gum, and the two healthy teeth on either side of the false tooth or teeth take the full pressure of the bridge while wearing crowns on them which acts as the anchor.
What are dental implants?
Dental implants are rather posts or structures made of Titanium generally and dentist fits them onto the jawbone beneath the gum tissues. This post or implant gets the firm support of the bone and hence can support a dental crown or bridge on it. Every single tooth can be fitted on individual dental implants if there is the crown on it. Else a few missing teeth in a row can be fixed by mounting a bridge over two implants on either side of the gap, and more implants in between if needed. Hence, implants act as a stable and permanent platform for holding a single crown, or a bridge.
The downsides of dental bridges
Dental bridges have a few downsides. As the anchor teeth have to take the full force and pressure of biting and chewing of the false tooth in between, hence they get loose and extra pressurized over time. As a result, they may get sore and misaligned. Also, the false teeth or tooth in the bridge creates enough pressure on the gum tissue beneath it to get sore, and with time unpleasant sore spot may develop, and even the jaw bone may be impacted with degeneration, losing of shape and strength, etc. Small bits of food particles may build injection and gum problems beneath the bridge if the maintenance of oral hygiene is low.
With these problems, you may become a periodic visitor to the dentist, either with pain or infection or with a misaligned or de-shaped bridge over the years. And with dental bridges, you will always have to take high care of oral hygiene while going for periodic dental checkups.
The advantages of implants over bridges
Implants are much stronger than dental bridges as no part of the implant is hanging without support. The firm support of the jaw bone is there to hold the implant in place through life. No sore spots are created on the gum once the gum tissues have healed after the surgery. Also, it’s not required to see the dentist again after an implant. The active non-reactive implant never causes any infection or germ buildup. Rather all the problems that you may encounter from simple dental bridges can be avoided through the use of dental implants.
Author bio:I am Lauren Bracy, a qualified blogger. Here you can see my skills which gives you small ideas on understanding all the concepts with different themes. I love to write blog on different topics, like: health, home décor, Automotive, Business, Lifestyle, Finance, Flowers etc.
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