For many patients who’ve experienced tooth loss, custom-made dental bridges can offer their smiles a new lease on life by replacing what they’ve lost. However, many patients don’t realize how much of an improvement the addition of dental implants can be for their new smiles. While a bridge replaces the visual parts of your teeth, dental implants replace their roots, offering unmatched support that a traditional bridge can’t achieve on its own.

How a Bridge Works

Dental bridges are among the most frequently requested dental prostheses because they’re highly effective at helping patients regain their smiles. A bridge consists of a replacement tooth (or multiple adjacent teeth) situated between two equally lifelike dental crowns. The bridge’s crowns are bonded to the healthy teeth nearest to the gap in your smile after your dentist carefully prepares the teeth to receive the crowns. Once bonded in place, the bridge fills in your smile, restoring its appearance as well as most of your bite’s function.

How to Improve a Bridge’s Design

Using advanced dental technology to capture detailed measurements of your teeth, your dentist can design a highly precise bridge that minimizes the amount of tooth preparation needed. However, to eliminate the need to prepare your healthy teeth at all, your dentist may suggest utilizing dental implants, which are biocompatible posts that can be implanted into your jawbone. Dental implants offer the dual benefits of preserving your healthy remaining tooth structure and reestablishing stimulation in your jawbone every time you bite and chew. This stimulation is vital to maintaining the strength and integrity of your jawbone, as well as the long-term state of your oral health.

Improve Your Dental Bridge with Implants

Whether you need a dental bridge or currently wear one, you may benefit from supporting your prosthesis on dental implants. To learn more, schedule a consultation by calling Cedar Dental in Cedar Rapids, IA, today at (319) 364-7108. We also welcome patients from Mount Vernon, Iowa City, Hiawatha, and all nearby communities.