Types of Bridges

Patients at Bishop & Bishop Dental in Silver Spring don’t have to go without teeth. When someone needs multiple crowns replaced, we can provide them with a dental bridge. But these prosthetic devices have undergone some improvements in recent years, which is why we thought our patients might appreciate learning more about them.
Bridges substitute multiple crowns that have been broken, severely decayed, or are gone altogether. The traditional pontic bridge was a series of linked crowns, of which the outermost two were cemented over natural teeth. This required the natural teeth to be reshaped into narrow cylinders and for there to be no other crowns in between them. Sometimes, dentists were willing to extract or reshape healthy teeth to make room for a bridge. While this technique allowed patients to retain their natural tooth roots, modern dentists prefer not to do unnecessary extractions.
It is now possible to fabricate dentures that skirt around natural teeth, allowing more targeted care. The dentures have to be reshaped from time to time as the jaw naturally changes shape, but the patient’s jaw bone will be more stable with their tooth roots left intact. At our office, we provide mini-implant support for dentures which can be inserted into the patient’s jawbone without the lengthy process of a full implant. This will further stabilize the jaw, allowing the denture to more satisfactorily restore the patient’s bite and speaking functions.
Dr. David Bishop, Dr. Dorienne Taylor-Bishop, and Dr. Alicia Reynolds operate Bishop & Bishop Dental at 8757 Georgia Ave, #810 Silver Spring, Maryland, 20910. To set up an appointment, call 301-608-9270 or visit Bishop Dental and fill out a contact sheet.