Dental health is pivotal to our overall well-being, impacting our oral health, confidence, self-esteem, and systemic health. Dental bridges are one of the tools that dentists use to help patients recover their radiant smiles and oral health. So, how exactly can dental bridges improve your smile and health? This article explores this topic in depth.
Before looking at the benefits, it’s essential to understand what dental bridges are. Dental bridges are artificial dental structures used to replace one or more missing teeth. They comprise two or more crowns for the teeth on either side of the gap and a false tooth or teeth in between. These anchoring teeth are known as abutment teeth, while the false teeth are called pontics.
Dental Bridges Improve your Smile and Health
The Impact of Dental Bridges on Your Smile
Missing teeth can detract from a perfect smile, making people self-conscious about their appearance. Dental bridges can improve your smile by filling these gaps. By choosing a bridge that matches your natural teeth’ color, size, and shape, your dentist can provide a solution that blends in with your smile. This restores the continuity and symmetry of your teeth, enhancing your smile’s appearance and boosting your self-confidence.
When you choose dental bridges in Calgary, we ensure the same is crafted carefully. They’re not merely about replacing the missing tooth functionally but also about matching the aesthetic aspects of your natural teeth. With the help of modern dental technology, dental labs can now create bridges that mimic the translucency, color gradients, and even the tiny grooves found on your natural teeth. This gives the dental bridges a lifelike appearance, so it can be hard for others to tell your artificial tooth from your natural teeth.
1. Dental bridges can improve your health
Helps Prevent Shifting of Remaining Teeth: When you have missing teeth, the remaining teeth may shift towards the space, leading to misalignment. Dental bridges can fill this space, which helps keep nearby teeth from shifting.
Bone Loss: The jawbone needs stimulation to maintain its volume and density. This stimulation typically comes from the teeth. When a tooth is missing, the area of the jawbone that held the tooth starts to deteriorate over time, which may lead to facial sagging. A traditional bridge does not replace the tooth root, so it does not stop bone loss under the missing tooth. If bone loss is a concern, ask your dentist whether an implant or an implant-supported bridge suits you.
Improves Chewing and Speaking Ability: Missing teeth can make chewing certain foods difficult and affect speech clarity. Dental bridges replace missing teeth and can help restore your ability to chew various foods and speak clearly, improving your quality of life.
Supports Oral Health: A well-fitted bridge, kept clean, can support the health of the teeth and gums around a gap (see What Are the Common Types of Dental Bridges?). Food can still collect under a bridge, so cleaning under it every day helps lower the risk of plaque build-up and gum disease.
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2. Caring for Your Dental Bridges
To ensure that your dental bridges can improve your smile and health long-term, taking care of them is critical. This includes maintaining good oral hygiene through regular brushing and flossing, scheduling routine dental check-ups, and avoiding hard or sticky foods that could damage the bridge.
A dental bridge might replace a missing tooth, but it doesn’t absolve you from maintaining good oral hygiene. Regular brushing and flossing remain paramount. Brush at least twice a day, and floss at least once daily. Use fluoride toothpaste to help keep your teeth strong, and a mouthwash if your dentist recommends one.
When flossing around your dental bridge, a floss threader can be a valuable tool, allowing you to easily thread the floss under the artificial tooth (or teeth) to remove trapped food particles and prevent plaque build-up. In addition to this, interdental brushes, water flossers, or other cleaning aids can also be handy in cleaning hard-to-reach areas. Your dentist or hygienist can show you which tools suit your bridge.
3. Careful Diet Choices
While dental bridges are sturdy and made to withstand normal eating habits, some dietary considerations remain. Try to limit the consumption of hard and sticky foods. Foods like hard candies, ice, or sticky caramels can cause damage to the bridge. Over time, such foods can even loosen the bridge.
Also, consider maintaining a balanced diet for overall oral health. Foods rich in calcium, like dairy products or leafy green vegetables, support overall oral health, and vitamin C-rich foods like citrus fruits can aid in gum health. If you have a health condition or a special diet, check with your doctor.
4. Routine Dental Check-ups
Schedule regular dental check-ups to help keep your dental bridges in good condition and can continue to improve your smile and health. During these visits, your dentist will examine the bridge, the adjacent teeth, and overall oral health to ensure everything is as it should be. They will look for any wear, damage, or gum disease signs. These check-ups are also an excellent opportunity for a professional cleaning, which can help remove plaque and tartar build-up that regular brushing and flossing might miss.
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5. Balancing Bite Forces
Proper bite force distribution is critical to the health and longevity of your teeth and the effectiveness of your chewing and biting. It’s like the well-oiled machine your mouth is designed to be; every tooth plays a role in maintaining this balance.
When you lose a tooth, this balance is disrupted. The remaining teeth must compensate for the lost tooth, bearing more stress than they are naturally designed to handle. This overcompensation may contribute to problems such as faster tooth wear, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder, or even further tooth loss.
By reducing stress on the remaining teeth and the TMJ, dental bridges can help protect your oral health and restore function. They enable a comfortable and efficient bite, contributing to the health of your smile in the long run.
Must Read: 5 Tips for Maintaining Good Dental Hygiene for Busy People
Wrapping up
Dental bridges can be a good solution for people missing one or more teeth. For many people, they improve daily life by restoring a natural-looking smile and supporting oral health.
Always consult a dental professional to ensure a dental bridge is the right solution for your dental needs. So yes, dental bridges in Calgary can help improve your smile and health, and many people feel more confident with one. See your dentist if a bridge feels loose, your bite feels off, or the gums around it are sore or bleeding.
To consult our dentists in Calgary, call 403-345-1110 or book online.
