At Greenbank Hunt Club Dental, our dentist provides dental bridges and full and partial dentures for patients in Ottawa.
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Why replace missing teeth?
A lost or damaged tooth can have a variety of consequences for your oral health and appearance. Even if the gap is at the back of your mouth and not visible from the outside, over time it can start affecting your appearance (and therefore your self-esteem), as well as your oral and overall health.
Each tooth you have plays an important role in your mouth, which means there will always be consequences when one of them is lost.
Dental bridges and dentures can help prevent or lessen the following side effects of missing teeth.
- Misalignment Issues
When a tooth is missing, the surrounding teeth may eventually begin to shift out of position and into the gap. This can cause a variety of problems, such as difficulty chewing and speaking, jaw pain, and uneven wear and tear on the teeth. In turn, these issues can result in teeth grinding and clenching during sleep.
- Effects on Jaw Bone & Gum
You may not realize it, but there is an important interplay between your teeth and their supporting jaw bone. Just as muscles are maintained through exercise, bone tissue is maintained and strengthened through use. Your teeth are embedded in the jawbone, and continuously stimulate it when you chew and bite down.
When teeth are missing, the portion of the jawbone that anchors the teeth in the mouth no longer receives the required stimulation, and this causes it to begin to break down. The jaw bone starts shrinking and your gum pulls back.
Missing teeth and a reduced jaw bone can make your face look hollow and saggy because they can no longer fully stabilize your lips and cheeks from the inside.
- Aesthetics
Missing teeth can have an impact on your appearance and in turn your self-confidence. Whether the gap is located in the back of the mouth or front and centre, the way your smile looks will be affected.
Many people with missing teeth feel self-conscious when they laugh, smile, talk or eat in the presence of other people. But this is no way to go through life!
The dental bridges and dentures available today look and feel more natural than ever, and provide the stability and aesthetics to help patients regain confidence in their smiles.
Dental Bridges
A dental bridge is for patients with a missing tooth or missing teeth. It functions to fill the gap left by the missing teeth and maintain the structure of the smile.
A bridge can help prevent the natural teeth from shifting or rotating into the space that's created by missing teeth, and becoming misaligned.
The bridge attaches to the remaining natural teeth on either side literally 'bridging the gap' that is caused by missing teeth.
Because bridges attach to other teeth, their longevity will depend on the health of the supporting teeth.
Full & Partial Dentures
For patients looking for affordable options when it comes to replacing teeth, dentures are often recommended.
Dentures can be used to replace one missing tooth, or as many as all of your teeth. There are two types of dentures – Full and Partial.
Full dentures replace all of the teeth in the top and/or bottom section of your mouth, and are usually made from acrylic or porcelain.
Partial dentures can be used to replace one or more missing teeth, and are generally made from a combination of acrylic and metal.