If you have missing teeth, it’s best to replace them at your earliest opportunity. Otherwise, the rest of your teeth and TMJ will be affected. When restoring a lost tooth, dental bridges and dental implants are your two most popular options. But which one is best?
Fixed bridges are a traditional tooth replacement that works well if you have teeth on either side of the missing one that would benefit from added reinforcement. The ends of the bridge act as protective crowns. It’s also a fairly economical treatment to get into.
A dental implant has the potential to last a lifetime but it also helps preserve healthy bone levels, supporting the integrity of your surrounding smile. You can use dental implants to replace as few or many teeth as needed, making them more versatile for each individual.
Additionally, implants are the strongest of any other restoration with the highest success rate. In fact, an implant is physically stronger than natural teeth. And they’re just as easy to care for!
Implants can also be used to support bridges, for multi-tooth restorative purposes.
Dental implants are better than fixed bridges in the sense that they are non-invasive to your adjacent healthy teeth. Traditional bridges require cutting down the neighboring tooth to install the restoration on top of them. If they are healthy virgin teeth, this process is unnecessary and considerably invasive.
Implants are also easier to maintain and provide the best return-on-investment, considering they can last for decades at a time, if not the rest of your life.
Periodontists are experts when it comes to smile reconstruction and tooth replacement with implants. To qualify for implant therapy or learn more, request an appointment!