Discussion Board

My dentist has suggested to replace my dental bridge with 4 implants. It's very expensive. From my reading, there is a risk of inflammation and sometimes they don't take and have to be redone. If successful however, it would be a wonderful, very natural looking solution.

Has anyone here got any feedback?

I would love to hear a response on this one as I'm in the same boat with 2 bridges my dentist wants to replace. My dentist says he uses a new technique that incorporates using the patients own tissue so the body is more accepting of it. I'm just still worried about unnecessarily implanting anything. On the other hand, my bridges are that silver metal, so I'm worried about keeping those in too.

What is wrong with your teeth that makes them too bad to keep and repair?

Besides the fact that they're not there, nothing. I was born without them. A dental bridge is affixed to the teeth surrounding the empty spot. It has a fake tooth affixed to the bridge to fill the gap, for aesthetic purposes.

IndyAnna, thank you. That makes a lot of sense. I can see that in that situation implants would be very attractive, even with the risk of failure and the high expense.

In other situations, I wonder if it might be better to repair the teeth that are there and, of course, keep them meticulously clean with the full daily cleaning ritual.

When I was a teenager I lost one of my front teeth accidentally.

It resulted in having a bridge fitted in the front that covered the missing tooth. It has been the bane of my life ever since. Never looked that natural, is hard to keep clean ( I brush and floss after EVERY meal and as bugs got in anyway, I've had one abscess already (root filling) and can feel another tooth in the bridge going bad.

I have 3 implants and don't have any problems with them. they have lasted better than teeth that had a root canal and post and crown. the only thing is they are expensive. I have had work done in Mexico which costs much less.

many years ago I had an implant in a back tooth. a few years later the crown and bridge kept coming off. my dentist (US) said they didn't recommend doing the back teeth anymore so he removed the implant and placed another next to the back tooth.

If you are young, an implant is a plus because it doesn't touch an adjacent tooth. If you were older, and had sound adjacent teeth, a bridge may last as long as needed. The cost of an implant will be returned in spades for people that plan to live more than 15 years.

Additionally, when a bridge is replaced, there is a percentage of abutment teeth that are lost...I have been told in courses that it is up to 25% of abutment teeth are lost at time of the second bridge.

Share your smile
Dentist 31 years

Always ask the dentist what they would do...
My wife, mom, brother-in-laws-2 all have implants

I just faced this dilemma. Had an abscessed molar needing extraction and dentist advised implant. Went to specialist who told me he uses bovine bone graft which concerns me so decided to go with a bridge as one of the supporting teeth is already crowned. Also was concerned about the long waiting period for healing and slight chance of an implant not working. Glad I decided on the bridge which is in progress anneh

I'm 36 years old, but I already have the bridges in place. Had them put in when I was 16. The problem is over the past 6 or 7 years they have been falling out and I have to get them re-affixed. They are Maryland Bridges, so aesthetically I like the way they look because they don't mess with my gumline like the crown kind would. The fake teeth are my canines, so crowns would affect my smile.

If I replace with implants, do they affect the abatement teeth at all? How are the abatement teeth repaired after the bridge is removed?

I'm hesitant because if the answer is crowns for the abatement teeth than that could make it look bad, when right now it looks good. (I've seen people with front teeth crowns that don't look natural.)

IndyAnna

Your Maryland Bridges were done just before implants became the norm for single tooth replacement. 20 years is a good life span. The rebonding of Maryland Bridges can be done well, if the entire bridge comes out so the metal surface can be prepped adequately (sandblast and conditioned). If only one tooth debonds, then it is nearly impossible to rebond with the strength of the original bridge. If they have been off and on for 6+ years, then rebonding is not likely an option. It is possible that there has been subsequent decay under the wings and that would require a larger filling or crown of the abutment teeth.

Abutment teeth repair: If the abutments were prepped minimally, you may just need the tooth to be smoothed or possibly have a small filling on the back of the tooth. Many Maryland Bridges were "no prep" but I usually did some contouring of the abutment teeth.

Esthetics: Everything must look good. Ask to see photos of the dentist's work and ask how they plan on maximizing the esthetics. It is important that the implant be placed in a position that gives the restorative dentist the best chance to restore esthetically. A surgical guide may be helpful to the surgeon. Traditional bridges can look beautiful. At 36, the average life of a bridge will mean you will be replacing it at least twice.

Implants and adjacent teeth: Implants don't affect adjacent teeth and therefore if you place an implant and the adjacent tooth has a problem, you just fix the tooth. If you do a bridge and get a cavity, you have to do 3 crowns-a new bridge.

Hope this helps.
Share your smile.
Dr. Mike
Redding, CA

Thank you so much for your reply, it helped immensely. I will discuss with my dentist at my next check up in a couple months.