Dental Implants - a Bridge or an Implant?
Health Hub, Your Looks
For those who have lost a single tooth, the bridge - a prosthetic tooth inserted into a gap between two healthy natural teeth - has been the most common solution for the past several decades. Today however, dental implants are a better solution for most patients - and in many cases, are more cost effective.
Currently, the cost for a single dental implant in the
While the “three-tooth bridge” (so called because it involves three teeth - the artificial prosthetic one and the two natural teeth on either side) may be less expensive initially, there are maintenance costs involved - and some technical problems as well. When a bridge is installed, the prosthetic tooth is linked to the teeth on either side of it. In order for this to happen, the orthodontist must actually whittle, or grind some material off of the adjoining teeth. This allows for the prosthesis to be slipped in over the top of the others.
One of the problems here is that because the three teeth are now linked together as one, ordinary dental hygiene is not possible. Special cleaning methods - inconvenient and not especially comfortable - are necessary in order to keep the underlying gum tissue healthy.
The other problem with the three-tooth bridge - which can add substantially to the cost - lies in the possibility that the supporting teeth on either side may become diseased or damaged in some way. Should this happen, the entire bridge will have to be replaced at considerable expense.
<SPAN style=”FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: ‘Arial’,’sans-serif