What is a Bridge Tooth?

A bridge tooth is a fixed dental prosthesis treatment used to replace a missing tooth in the mouth. Since at least 1 abutment tooth or implant is required for the application of bridge teeth, it cannot be applied to edentulous patients. Bridge tooth application is performed by a prosthodontist.

Bridges are made to restore the function, aesthetics and phonation that patients have lost. Prostheses can be made of many materials, but the most preferred ones in terms of strength and durability are ceramic bridges with metal substructure.

How is a Bridge Tooth Made?

The construction of the bridge tooth is realized by taking support from healthy teeth and filling the gaps created by the lost teeth. Bridge tooth application can be applied for one or more tooth gaps depending on the type. The important point in bridge tooth application is the need for healthy neighboring teeth that can be supported on the left and right sides.

During the first examination with the dentist, the type of bridge tooth is decided according to the missing tooth. After deciding on the bridge tooth, the left and right teeth that will provide support are filed down and reduced in size. The purpose of this process is to provide enough space for the new tooth to be prepared.

After the teeth are filed, impressions are taken for the bridge tooth to be prepared. The filing of the support teeth exposes the sensitive tooth layer called dentin. Until the permanent bridge tooth treatment is applied, a temporary bridge tooth is inserted to prevent cold/hot sensitivity of the teeth.

The impression is taken and the bridge teeth are prepared in about 3 to 10 days. When the prepared artificial tooth reaches the dentist, it is rehearsed. Both functional and aesthetic features of the bridge teeth such as compatibility with other teeth in the mouth, size, color similarity and closure of the teeth are checked. If any problems are detected, the problem is quickly corrected by the dentists and then the bridge tooth is bonded.

Types of Bridge Teeth

Bridge tooth types are clinically applied in practice with 4 different methods. These are

Traditional
Free finite
Marylan
Implant supported
The main goal of dental treatment is to preserve as much healthy tooth tissue as possible. For this reason, different types have been developed to protect neighboring teeth. Bridges are generally classified according to the type of attachment to the supporting neighboring tooth.

For traditional prosthesis application, the healthy tooth adjacent to the tooth-deficient area is reduced in size by abrasion. In addition, there are bridges that can be made without the need for tooth cutting. Different types of materials such as porcelain bridges, metal alloys and zirconium can also be used in restoration procedures.

Traditional Bridge:

In this type of bridge, there are veneers covering the teeth on both sides of the gap and a body tooth to replace the missing tooth between the veneers. The body tooth is shaped in the form of the missing tooth and attached to the teeth on either side of the gap with veneers.

In this type of restoration, the natural teeth adjacent to the gap must be slightly reduced in size in order for the bridge to remain stable. The main advantages of the traditional approach are an aesthetically pleasing dental appearance and strong retention. Restorations that are bonded to the supporting teeth do not fall out easily.

Free End

Free bridges, also known as suspension bridges, are preferred when only one side of the gap has intact teeth. The purpose of use in dentistry is generally to relieve the patient from the necessity of using removable prostheses.

Maryland Bridge

The winged bridge dental application, also called Maryland or Adhesive, is used especially in the restoration of the front teeth. It is prepared as a false tooth instead of the missing tooth and attached to the back surfaces of the neighboring teeth.

The back sections of the neighboring teeth are slightly roughened with acid and the restoration prepared with composite filling material is adhered to these sections. In this way, a bridge can be built without the need to cut the healthy neighboring teeth, which are important in dental health.

The retention properties of these bridges are much weaker than others. For this reason, they are not applied to the back teeth where strong chewing force comes from. The impressions are sent to the laboratory and the prepared porcelain teeth are shaped in the same color as the neighboring teeth.

Implant Supported Bridge:

It is the method used when there are no natural teeth left in the jaw that can be used to support the tooth to be bridged. With this method, implants to be placed in the jawbone at both ends of the tooth-deficient area are connected to each other with a bridge. Instead of an implant for each tooth deficiency, this application allows a large number of tooth deficiencies to be eliminated by using a much smaller number of implants.

How is a fixed porcelain bridge placed?

Another name of the application known as traditional dental bridge is fixed porcelain bridge. There are several stages in the placement of a fixed porcelain bridge.

Two natural teeth to which the bridge tooth will be bonded are prepared.
An impression of the gums, tooth cavity and teeth is prepared and sent to the laboratory.
The temporary bridge is placed until the permanent bridge arrives.
When the permanent bridge is ready, the temporary bridge is removed and the dental bridge is placed permanently.