Dental bridges are part of the restorative dentistry services we offer at our Lincoln dentist's office that can replace one tooth or several missing teeth. While dental bridges can complete your smile once again, they do not come in one-size-fits-all options. Three different dental bridge types exist.
Cantilever Bridges: While cantilever bridges are not a common bridge type, they are well-suited when you have a missing tooth in the front or middle portion of your teeth. This bridge type involves replacing only one tooth and place a dental crown on one side to anchor the bridge in place. Cantilever bridges are not typically used on the back teeth because the forces in chewing can be too great.
Maryland Bridges: A Maryland bridge is also called a resin-bonded bridge. These bridge types use metal "wings" instead of crowns that are bonded to your tooth with a replacement tooth in the middle. Different materials exist to create Maryland bridges. These include plastic, porcelain or porcelain-fused-to-metal.
Traditional Bridges: Traditional bridges are the most common dental bridge type, and may be the type you are most familiar with. These bridge types have a pontic or artificial tooth in the middle. On either side of the pontic are either dental implants or crowns. Dental crowns are when you have existing teeth on either side of your missing tooth. While this requires making some changes to your surrounding teeth, your healthy teeth can anchor the replacement. The traditional bridge is made from ceramic material or of porcelain fused to metal.
Each dental bridge is custom-made for each Lincoln patient. Dr. Blome-Wubbles can evaluate your overall dental health and where the missing tooth is to determine the most appropriate bridge type for you.
For more information on dental bridges at our Lincoln dentist's office, please call (402) 483-7000.