Following the loss of between one to three missing teeth in a row, your oral health could suffer, as could your smile’s appearance. In today’s blog, your Newhall, CA, dentist will discuss how we approach designing and crafting a custom-made prosthetic to restore health, beauty, and function to your smile. We want to make sure you once again feel proud to smile!
Don’t Live with Tooth Loss
Losing teeth means much more than just embarrassment. The loss of one or more of your teeth could impact your smile’s beauty, and over time, impact oral health as well. When we lose teeth, this means that the surrounding teeth could drift from positions, leading to misalignment. Poor alignment is a recipe for a higher risk of tooth decay and gum disease. Missing teeth also alters your bite’s balance and strains the jaw joints, which could mean painful jaw joint disorders like TMD or bruxism (chronic teeth grinding). Not to mention the problems you could encounter trying to eat or speak clearly!
Preparing Your Smile
To prevent these complications, you may need a bridge to fill the gap and preserve the balance, beauty, and health of your smile. To begin, we administer a local anesthetic or possibly sedation before we remove structure from the teeth on each side of the exposed gap, which we refer to as abutment teeth. Next, we take detailed impressions and images of the smile.
Creating and Placing a Dental Bridge
In a dental lab setting, we will design the prosthetic with the images and measurements we gathered before. Each prosthetic is custom-made, as we want not only a natural appearance, but to ensure better bite balance too. We craft them from options like ceramic, which not only absorbs bite enforces, but can be shaded to blend with your smile too. When ready, you return to the office so we can place the bridge, attaching the crowns to the abutment teeth. With proper care and attention, your prosthetic could last up to 15 years! You should continue to brush and floss daily, and clean the spaces between the top of the gums and the bottom of your bridge. You also need to enjoy a healthier diet as well. If you have any questions about how we approach missing tooth replacement, or about the process of designing and crafting a lifelike dental prosthetic, then contact our team today. We want to help you enjoy a full smile again in 2021!
Do You Have a Lost Tooth?
We want to protect your smile from the complications of losing your natural teeth. Newhall Dental Arts is ready to replace your missing teeth. Contact our Newhall, CA office at (661) 259-7760 to learn more about our approach to prosthetic dentistry.