Dental Bridges
A bridge is made up of two or more crowns and is placed in gaps that may occur between your natural teeth. Your natural teeth are used as anchor or abutment teeth to which the bridge is attached.
Bridges can be used to restore your smile and your ability to properly chew and speak and help in preventing your natural teeth from moving out of position.
Bonded Bridge
When you come into our San Francisco, CA office and talk to our staff, we may feel that your best option to replace a single lost tooth is a bonded bridge. A bonded bridge consists of two parts. The first is a false tooth, called a pontic and the second are 'wings' that support the pontic. The entire structure spans the space vacated by the missing tooth giving you a natural looking replacement without damaging surrounding teeth. Neighboring tooth structures are allowed to remain the same and the wings of the bonded tooth are attached behind the neighboring teeth.
So don't put off that dentist appointment one more day. Pick up the phone and call John W. Schulz, D.D.S. at 415.731.9300 and setup an appointment to replace that missing tooth today. You will be so glad you did.
Fixed Bridge
A bridge may be used to replace a single tooth. A bridge consists of both a false tooth, called a pontic and the anchors (abutment crowns) that support the pontic. The entire structure spans the space vacated by the missing tooth.
Neighboring tooth structure is removed, shaping them to receive an anchor crown. An impression is then taken and sent to a dental lab where they fabricate the bridge.
The structure part of the bridge is created with a strong metal alloy that can handle the anticipated stresses.
Tooth-like porcelain is then fused to the structure. Once the bridge is tested for a correct fit, the anchor crowns are cemented to the neighboring teeth.