I need to replace a tooth. My dentist has given me two choices. I can either get a dental implant or a dental bridge. I’m having a hard time deciding. He said the dental implant is better but it does mean surgery. Can you help me understand the benefit to surgery?
Malcolm
Dear Malcolm,
It’s always important to understand the pros and cons of every option. I don’t know how much your dentist explained to you so I’m going to go over the procedures.
With a dental bridge, The two adjacent teeth will be crowned and a false tooth suspended between the two of them. They are bonded on. The downsides are twofold. One, you have to grind down the structure of healthy teeth. Two, if one part of the bridge fails, the whole thing has to be replaced. The upside is no surgery.
With a dental implant, a prosthetic tooth root is surgically placed into your jawbone. You are given some time to heal and for the bone to integrate with the implant. Then, a dental crown is placed on top. Its upsides are numerous but can be summarized by the fact that it is like having a healthy natural tooth in your mouth again. Its downside is you need some minor surgery.
Cosmetic Considerations with Tooth Replacement Options
The color of tooth replacement options can be made any color you want. However, whatever color you end up with is permanent. If you’ve ever considered whitening your teeth, the time to do that is before you have the replacement tooth made.
If you decide to have teeth whitening done later, your natural teeth will whiten, but the cosmetic work will not. In order to get them to match, the crown or bridge will have to be re-made to the new color.
Doing everything ahead of time saves you a significant amount of money.
This blog is brought to you by Lexington, KY Dentist Dr. John Weaver.
