Need an affordable option for missing teeth?

Dental bridges, also called fixed partial dentures, are an excellent option to address missing teeth, improving both your smile and your overall oral health in many ways. The exact benefits of dental bridges are plentiful and are described in greater detail below.

1. Restoring Your Smile’s Appearance

First and foremost, a dental bridge is a restorative dentistry option that brings a natural look back to your smile. Each bridge is customized to closely match the shade and shape of your natural teeth, providing a seamless appearance. In turn, a dental bridge’s aesthetic benefits may significantly boost your confidence as well.

2. Maintaining Facial Structure

Replacing a missing tooth by way of a dental bridge affects more than just your smile. It also helps maintain your facial structure, as it will support the natural contour of your face.

In other words, dental bridges help maintain facial symmetry and balance, which can promote a more youthful appearance. Symmetry is one of the most important aspects of your facial appearance, and any asymmetry caused by living with missing teeth is something most people will subconsciously pick up on.

3. Improving Chewing Ability

Beyond looks, your teeth still have a major role to play. Proper chewing is essential for both your quality of life and your overall health. Being able to bite and chew effectively promotes effective nutrient absorption, ensuring that you make the most of your diet.

A dental bridge relies on natural teeth as a foundation, so it is able to stand up to the forces involved in biting and chewing. You’ll avoid any potential discomfort or difficulty chewing that is common with missing teeth and be able to expand the variety of foods you can eat as a result.

4. Distributing Bite Force Evenly

Building off of the last point, your jaw is capable of incredible force when biting. However, that means it poses a risk to teeth that are unable to bear that force evenly. A missing tooth shifts pressure onto surrounding teeth unevenly, potentially leading to increased wear, chips, and cracks.

A dental bridge evenly distributes bite force through the bridge to the natural teeth supporting it. This prevents overload on any individual teeth, helping you avoid potential damage and support the long-term alignment of your teeth.

5. Enhancing Speech Clarity

Speech depends on many different parts of your mouth working together in perfect harmony, including your teeth. Gaps in your teeth can, therefore, lead to difficulty in pronunciation as well as speech issues, such as lisps. A dental bridge mitigates these issues, allowing for clear and natural speech.

6. Preventing Teeth Shifting

Perhaps one of the biggest issues that arises with missing teeth is that the teeth around the resulting gap can shift over time. Without the resistance of another tooth beside them, they can move out of place entirely. That effect may lead to other teeth moving as well, potentially setting your smile significantly askew.

A dental bridge provides the necessary resistance to stop your teeth from moving; it is firmly attached to the supporting natural teeth. As such, you can avoid a crooked smile and the need for orthodontic treatment down the line.

7. Reducing the Risk of Bone Loss

Bone loss is another potential and serious consequence of living with missing teeth. The roots of your natural teeth stimulate and apply pressure to the jawbone, which helps keep it strong. Without that support, the jawbone will deteriorate over time.

Dental bridges help improve bone retention by maintaining pressure between the natural teeth, thereby supporting them and ensuring they stimulate the jawbone effectively. While that may not offer the same level as the benefits of dental implants, it does support long-term oral health.

8. Easier Maintenance of Oral Hygiene

Dental bridges are relatively easy to maintain, with the brushing process being essentially the same as it is when taking care of natural teeth. The gap left by a missing tooth allows bacteria and bits of food to accumulate, but a dental bridge resolves that issue to improve oral hygiene.

9. Preventing Gum Disease

Gum recession, plaque buildup, and other issues are commonly experienced in areas where teeth are missing. A dental bridge will fill the gap left by a missing tooth, and since bacteria will have fewer hiding places to thrive, your gum health will improve.

Learn more about dental bridges from your Williamsville family dentist.

With so many benefits, having a dental bridge procedure could be the perfect solution for your smile. However, there are plenty of other considerations to be made, namely, the decision between a dental bridge vs. a dental implant. How much does a dental bridge cost? How long do dental bridges last? You can find the answers to all these questions and more by scheduling an appointment with Kathleen Balthasar, DDS. Don’t wait to find the perfect solution for your smile.