Dental Bridges in Kearney, NE

People can make inaccurate assumptions about your personality if you’re always trying to hide your smile due to missing teeth. Fortunately, Dr. Eric Ahrens has several options for replacing teeth, including dental bridges.

Why Get a Bridge?

If you have at least one tooth missing, you need to consider replacing it with a bridge. A bridge closes, or bridges, the gap between teeth. Once our dentist in Kearney, NE attaches the bridge to your gum, your smile will be whole again.

Ideally, you should replace a tooth as soon as you can. However, many people never get them replaced, which can cause other dental issues. When there is an empty socket in your mouth, the teeth near it will start to gravitate toward it because it no longer has support.

Those teeth will begin to loosen, and if you don’t have them fixed will become crooked. Also, when a tooth is missing, the jawbone will start to shrink because of a lack of stimulation. Fortunately, a bridge can stimulate the bone and preserve its density.

Bridges Provide Support for Teeth

Bridges near you are available in several types, including:

• Fixed or traditional bridges
• Cantilever bridges
• Maryland bonded bridges
• Implant-supported bridges

Fixed bridges in Kearney, NE are the most common ones that dentists place in their patients’ mouths. It consists of a pontic, or fake tooth, with a pink acrylic base that looks like a gum. On either side of the pontic are dental crowns that attach to healthy teeth to support the bridge.

The healthy teeth will need trimming so that the crown fits over them. The crowns get cemented in place at Platte Valley Dental Clinic so that the bridge permanently bonds to your teeth. Once it’s cured or dried, you will be able to go back to eating the hard, sticky foods you love in about 24 hours.

Implant-Supported Bridges

Many people who need bridges are interested in implant-supported bridges. These prosthetics can replace one with a complete arch of teeth. Our dentist near you can replace several teeth with just a couple of implants using this bridge.

If you have missing teeth, call Dr. Eric Ahrens for a consultation about bridges at Platte Valley Dental Clinic.