Dental Bridges
Salem, OR

When tooth loss strikes, life gets a little bit more difficult. That’s why we at Fairmount Dental Center take your oral health so seriously. We offer a variety of tooth replacement options (permanent and removable) that allow you to regain the part of your life that is lost when you lose a tooth. One of the most popular tooth replacement options that we offer is called adental bridge. Dental bridges allow us to replace anywhere from one to four consecutive missing teeth by bridging the gap.

What is a dental bridge

A dental bridge is a permanent tooth replacement option that requires two healthy teeth on either side of the gap to act as anchors for the bridge. If two healthy teeth are not present to act as supporting structures for the bridge, we can often place dental implants that will accomplish the same effect.

Dental bridges are crafted to look just like your real teeth and give you the ability to chew and speak properly.

Advantages of a Dental Bridge

If you lose teeth and don’t have them replaced by a dentist, some negative effects can take place. For one thing, it becomes difficult to enjoy certain foods and speak the way you normally would. When you lose a tooth, it can change the way your face looks, leaving your cheeks looking a bit sunken and unnatural. A single missing tooth can lead to serious complications in your bite because teeth rely on their neighbors to hold them in place. Dental bridges offer a low risk, high reward option that can be accomplished quickly and with relatively little effort.

Having a Bridge Placed

The process of having a dental bridge placed at Fairmount Dental Center usually requires at least two trips to our dental office to complete. During the first trip we will numb the area with a local anesthetic to ensure that you are comfortable before the procedure starts. We will take an impression of your teeth so that we will have a model to build your bridge off of.

Once the impression is finished, we will prepare the teeth that will act as the anchors (abutment teeth) to receive the bridge by shaving off some of the outer layers of the tooth. We shave off some of the enamel from your teeth so that the bridge will be able to fit over the top of them. The final part of the first appointment is the placement of a temporary bridge over your teeth to give you some of the functionality of a bridge without having to wait several weeks for the permanent bridge to be fabricated.

The second trip to our office is much less involved than the first. During this appointment, we simply remove the temporary bridge and place the permanent one on your teeth using a permanent dental cement. We make sure that the bridge fits in your bite and make any adjustments that need to be made to ensure your long term comfort.

Call us today at (503) 362-8364 to schedule your appointment.