Dental Bridges from Confidental Clinic in Greenwich

What are Dental Bridges?

A dental bridge is used to restore aesthetics and function. They are made up of two crowns, one on each tooth surrounding a false tooth (pontic), which replaces the gap. It is important to replace missing teeth to prevent the rest of your teeth from weakening as they are made to withstand more pressure.

What Designs are Available?

At Confidental Clinic Greenwich, we are pleased to offer different bridge designs that can be chosen to best suit you. Your dentist will discuss these with you during your initial consultation.

Resin Bonded Bridges or Maryland Bridges have metal ‘wings’ that are fixed to the teeth on either side of the false tooth. The false tooth appears exactly like the rest of the teeth as it is made to match them. No preparation of the supporting teeth is required with these bridges.
Fixed Bridges involve having the supporting teeth prepared so that the false tooth can be fitted in the gap. These are very strong and an excellent method of improving aesthetics of your teeth.

What are the Available Types of material for Dental Bridges?

Zirconia is a metal-free crown. Its strong material is designed to withstand strong forces when biting on the front and back teeth.

EMAX is a type of crown designed for both the front and back teeth. In fact, it was specifically intended to replicate a natural tooth.

All Porcelain crowns are natural appearing and mainly used for restoring the front teeth because of their highly aesthetic properties.

Gradia crowns have a high aesthetic value, made to withstand pressure. These are the most cost effective type of metal-free crowns.

Porcelain Bonded to Metal crowns are made of both metal and porcelain bonded together. Their strength makes them the most valued by patients with heavy bites.

What is the Procedure?

You will on average need two appointments with one of our highly experienced dentists – a consultation prior to treatment to discuss your options available should you require a dental bridge and an appointment for actual treatment

During your consultation, your dentist may take radiographs to assess the teeth. Sometimes, your dentist may want to take models of your teeth to study. This is called a diagnostic wax up. A wax layer is placed over the teeth on either side of the false tooth to provide you with an image of the proposed treatment plan.

With fixed bridges, as the two teeth surrounding the false tooth need to be prepared, the outer layer of the tooth has to be removed. Your dentist will take impressions and these will be taken to the laboratory so that they can make the bridge. As this can take up to 2 weeks, you will be fitted with a temporary bridge in the mean time so you will not be left with a gap.

After your dentist has received the bridges, they will removed your temporary bridge and thoroughly clean this area. Your dentist will then fit the bridge and provided you are happy with the result, it will be fixed in place.

As always, it is essential to maintain a good level of oral health. Please be aware that you will also need to keep your false tooth clean to prevent the build up of plaque. Your dentist will explain this to you during your treatment.

To book an appointment please contact our reception team who will gladly help to arrange this.