Dental Implants Vs. Bridges: What Is The Difference?

When you lose teeth due to cavity, trauma, periodontal disease, or not having a tooth come in in the first place, you may need tooth replacement. Several options are available for replacing teeth. You can consider the traditional bridges or dental implants. But how do these two types of restorations differ?

Conventional Bridge

A typical bridge is a restoration that replaces one or several teeth in the mouth. The restoration does so by supporting itself on the adjacent teeth. To receive a traditional bridge, you will need to have teeth on both sides of the gap of the missing teeth. A dentist will prepare or ground down the adjacent teeth in anticipation of fitting a crown. The specialist will then attach the ends of the bridge to each crown on the adjacent teeth. In the middle of that bridge is the pontic or false tooth that replaces the missing tooth. The conventional bridge was the standard of care for replacing a missing tooth if dentures do not work. However, today, we have a better option – dental implants. 

Dental Implants

An implant uses a titanium device placed into the bone where it fuses to become part of the bone. The jawbone grows around the titanium screw through osseointegration. After the integration of the implant screw, the dentist attaches an abutment onto the implant. The specialist then fits a crown for the implant. The crown is fixed on the abutment before being cemented on the implant the same way a crown is cemented onto the natural tooth. 

Which One To Choose

Dental implants are almost permanent with a 95 percent success rate. You will have these restorations for life and probably what may need replacement is the crown. On the side of bridges, they are difficult to clean compared to implants. Food and debris are likely to lodge underneath the bridge, and they can lead to gum disease and decay or even loss of the other adjacent teeth. Dental bridges last about 6 to 10 years. When you receive dental implants, you brush and floss just like you do with a regular tooth. Contact our OMS team for dental implants or bridges placement.