Permanent Dental Bridges Vs. Temporary Dental Bridges
Dental bridge services include fitting you for a bridge and helping you choose either a temporary or permanent bridge. If you are not familiar with the differences between these two main types of bridges, your dentist can explain them to you. You can also check out the comparison of permanent versus temporary dental bridges below.
Temporary Bridges
A temporary bridge is any bridge that will require replacing in the future or one that you can remove and clean on a regular basis. Ones that you can remove consist of a fake tooth and a metal ring that fits over the top of a neighboring tooth. Other semi-permanent but temporary bridges are affixed to a neighboring tooth using a crown to cover that tooth. The fake replacement crown/bridge is affixed to the crown of the real tooth. Sometimes the bridge is affixed to a real tooth on both sides. It just depends on what your dentist thinks is the best option for your mouth.
Permanent Bridges
Permanent bridges are a fairly new dental bridge product. These can never be removed, except through surgery, since the dentist has to surgically insert the underlying hardware into the jawbones and gums of your mouth. They are essentially dental implants that correct one or more bad teeth with one or more completely missing teeth. They work best for people who have three to five missing or bad teeth that need replacing and/or crowing in order to restore their mouths to a more aesthetically pleasing appearance.
The fake crowns to hide the gaps in your mouth are made the same way as the fake crowns in any other bridge appliance. The one major difference is that these crowns will snap or screw onto abutment screws that have been surgically inserted into your jaws/gums. It is a two-part process where the dentist will first do the abutment screw surgery, and then manufacture the fake bridge crowns to install over the tops of the abutment screws.
The fake crowns of the permanent and implanted bridge will not be installed until your gums have healed from the abutment screw surgery. It may feel and look awkward for a long time, but once those crowns from the implant bridge are finally in your mouth, you might be very glad you chose this option. You should know, however, that most dental plans will not cover permanent bridges, even though permanent bridges require far less maintenance over time.