Restorative Dentistry
Traditional Dental Bridges in Los Angeles
Fixed in place, and finished in a matter of weeks rather than months.
The standard answer to a single missing tooth with sound teeth either side of it. Smile LA Downtown Modern Dentistry makes them from digital impressions, matched to the teeth they sit between.
How it works
How a traditional bridge works
The teeth either side of the gap are prepared to take crowns. The replacement tooth is joined to those two crowns as a single piece, and the whole unit is cemented into place. It does not come out, you clean around it rather than soaking it overnight, and it restores chewing on that side immediately. It is the standard answer to a single missing tooth for good reasons: it is fixed, it is finished in a matter of weeks rather than months, and it needs no surgery and no healing period before the tooth is back. What it asks for in exchange is real, and it is set out below rather than left to be discovered at the appointment.
The trade-off
What it asks of the neighboring teeth
This is the honest trade-off, and it is the reason implants exist.
- They have to be crowned Which means removing healthy enamel from two teeth that had nothing wrong with them, to replace a third.
- They carry the load The bite force of the missing tooth is transferred to them.
- Where they already need crowns The calculus changes completely — if both neighbors are heavily filled or already crowned, a bridge costs you nothing extra and is often the better choice.
An implant does not require altering the healthy teeth either side of the gap, which is its main advantage over this. An implant supported bridge combines the two.
The other designs
Where there is a sound tooth on only one side of the gap, a cantilever bridge is the option. Where you want to avoid crowning the neighbors, a Maryland bridge bonds to the back of them instead. See crowns and bridges for the full comparison.
Traditional Bridges FAQ
- Does a bridge come out at night?
- No. It is cemented in place — you clean around it rather than removing it.
- Do the teeth either side need crowns?
- Yes, that is how a traditional bridge is held. It means removing enamel from two healthy teeth, which is the main argument for an implant instead.
- When is a bridge better than an implant?
- When the neighboring teeth already need crowns anyway, when there is not enough bone for an implant, or when you want the gap closed sooner.
- How is it made?
- From digital impressions, and matched to the color and shape of the teeth it sits between.
