Dental Bridges in Santa Rosa CA

Each of your teeth plays a role in chewing, speaking, and maintaining the proper alignment of your other teeth. Losing even one tooth can have a dramatic effect on your oral health. However, replacing the teeth you have lost helps protect your oral health and restores your smile. Fortunately, Fountaingrove Dentistry offers several styles of tooth bridges in Santa Rosa for replacing missing teeth, including dental bridges.

What Are Dental Bridges?

A bridge is a dental appliance that restores one or more missing teeth with artificial teeth. These teeth are supported over the gap in your smile by crowns placed over teeth on either side of the gap. Other options include a bridge supported by wires or by special fasteners cemented to the adjacent teeth, rather than crowns. Dental bridges can restore chewing function, enhance your appearance, and improve your oral health.

Benefits of Dental Bridges

• Improved eating and speaking abilities
• Helps maintain facial contours
• Prevents other teeth from shifting
• It can help preserve the jawbone
• Natural-looking (matched to your natural teeth)
• Non-invasive, with no surgery needed
• They can improve self-confidence

The Dental Bridge Procedure

Getting a dental bridge usually takes two or three appointments. At the first appointment, we prepare the teeth on either side of the gap by removing a small amount of the enamel.

The bridge must be fabricated with great precision to ensure your replacement tooth matches the opposing tooth and does not affect your bite. To do this, we take dental impressions and send them to our lab, where the bridge will be fabricated.

Fixed bridges feature crowns that are cemented onto the natural teeth, providing support for the bridge, or fasteners may be cemented onto the sides of the supporting teeth. With either version, the replacement teeth (pontics) are supported over the gap and considered permanent tooth replacement options because they are not removable except by a dental professional and can last for 15 years or longer.

Dental Bridges vs. Dental Implants

Dental bridges and dental implants are both reliable options for replacing missing teeth. Bridges are a quicker, more affordable solution, often completed within a few weeks without surgery. They’re especially useful when surrounding teeth already need crowns. Implants, on the other hand, replace the missing tooth root with a titanium post, helping preserve bone and providing a longer-lasting result. However, the process takes more time and involves invasive surgery.

Getting dental implants requires an investment of several months. It includes quite a bit of recovery time, while bridges do not require surgery and require little to no recovery time. Finally, the cost difference will matter for those on a budget. Dental bridges are an affordable way to replace missing teeth, while dental implants are more expensive. Both treatments are safe, functional, and natural-looking, but for many patients seeking a faster or less invasive approach, a bridge can be an excellent choice.

Why choose Fountaingrove Dentistry?

Our dental practice is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of dentists, including a prosthodontist specializing in the design and fabrication of dental prosthetics such as dental bridges. When you come to us for a bridge, you benefit from a team of specialists who are intimately familiar with both the aesthetics and function of the teeth, gums, and jawbone and how they work together. Creating a bridge that works smoothly with all these elements takes skill, precision, and attention to detail. At Fountaingrove Dentistry, we practice the art of dental design every day.

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Before and After Dental Bridges

View Our Dental Bridges Gallery

“Mike had lost his front tooth in a childhood accident. He and his parents chose a fixed bridge rather than a dental implant to replace his front tooth. A porcelain bridge may not be the ideal restoration but can give a very nice result and last for many years.”

“Dr. Erlach restored Bart’s missing and small teeth with two dental bridges.”

“Missing teeth can be replaced by fixed bridges, as in this case, or dental implants.”

“After removing several hopeless teeth, Dr. Anderson restored this patient’s smile with an all-porcelain bridge.”

“Our 16 year old patient was congenitally missing her laterals and didn’t like the Maryland bridges her dentist placed. Dr. Anderson replaced them with all-porcelain Maryland bridges. Once she is done growing she can have implants placed.”

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Dental Bridge FAQs

Who is a good candidate for dental bridges?

Anyone in good health who wants to replace missing teeth in Santa Rosa should consider the quality and longevity of dental bridges. They give you a complete smile restoration, enhance your appearance, and allow you to eat many foods you once loved again.

The surgeons at Fountaingrove Dentistry are happy to answer your questions that aren’t addressed here. If you are missing teeth and considering dental bridges, an appointment at our Santa Rosa office is the first step. Call our office today at Fountaingrove Dentistry Office Phone Number 707-525-1500 to schedule your consultation.

Does insurance cover dental bridges?

If your bridge is considered medically necessary (for instance, if you need it to eat properly), most dental insurers will cover between 50 and 80 percent of the cost. The amount of coverage varies depending on the policy and the type of bridge. We recommend talking to your insurance provider before moving forward, and asking for a pre-authorization and an outline of what they will cover, so there are no surprises.

How do I clean under my dental bridge?

The first step in keeping your bridge clean is brushing and flossing daily, just like you do with your natural teeth. But food debris can sometimes get caught beneath your bridge, where bacteria can proliferate. Here are some tips to help you clean under your bridge:

• Dental Picks: Dental picks are small, specially designed tools that look like toothpicks, but with rubber tips that are more forgiving on teeth and gums.
• Water picks: Handy for reaching hard-to-reach areas under your dental bridges. They shoot a pulsing stream of water underneath your bridge and between your teeth to loosen and wash away debris.
• Interproximal brushes – tiny, cone-shaped brushes designed to clean larger-than-normal spaces between the teeth. Because of their size and their design, they’re perfect for cleaning under dental bridges.

What materials are used?

Bridges can be constructed from gold alloys, non-precious alloys, porcelain, or a combination of these materials. Porcelain is often bonded to either precious or non-precious metal.

How much do dental bridges cost in Santa Rosa CA?

Depending on the patient’s findings, the cost may be comparable to a single implant with a crown.

Is a dental bridge painful?

When teeth are prepared for a bridge, a layer of tooth structure must be removed. For the patient to be comfortable, local anesthetic is used to prevent a painful experience.

Can a dental bridge be removed and recemented?

No. A bridge is designed to be permanently cemented. If there is an issue with one of the abutment teeth, the bridge may have to be addressed as a whole.

How do you remove plaque from a bridge?

Plaque not only forms on the teeth but can also form on dental bridges. The good news is that plaque is much easier to remove from dental bridges than from teeth.
To remove plaque from dental bridges, continue brushing twice a day. You can even use a denture cleaner. Water picks can also prove useful for removing plaque in the early stages and in small quantities.

Do NOT use abrasive cleaning solutions or tools, as they can damage the surface of your bridges and shorten their lifespan.

Do dental bridges prevent bone loss?

To some degree. Not as effective as compared to the alternative: a dental implant.

Can a bridge be placed on implants?

Yes, a bridge can be implant supported with two or more implants. However, a bridge cannot connect an implant and a natural tooth.