Skip to main content

Bridges Specialist

Garden Oaks Dental

Dentists located in Houston, TX

A missing tooth not only affects the look of your smile, but also the health of your mouth by increasing your risk of shifting teeth and dental decay. The team at Garden Oaks Dental in Houston, Texas, offers a number of treatments to help fix your smile, including dental bridges, which uses a prosthetic tooth to bridge the gap between teeth. If you’d like to know more about your treatment options for missing teeth, call the office or book an appointment online.

Bridges Q & A

What is a dental bridge?

A dental bridge is a prosthetic dental treatment that replaces missing teeth in your mouth. A missing tooth not only makes you want to hide your smile, but also makes chewing more difficult, causes your other teeth to shift, or serves as a breeding ground for bacteria and decay.

The dental prosthetic is made up of artificial teeth, referred to as pontics, held in place by dental crowns, referred to as abutments. The effective treatment not only improves your smile, but functionality as well.

Who is a good candidate for a dental bridge?

If you’re missing one to three teeth and the surrounding teeth are healthy and free from decay, you’re a good candidate for a dental bridge. The team at Garden Oaks Dental completes a thorough oral examination to determine if a dental bridge makes the best treatment option for you.

Healthy gums are essential for placement of dental bridges. If necessary, the team at Garden Oaks Dental may need to treat your gums before placing the dental bridge.

How do you place a dental bridge?

The Garden Oaks Dental team places your dental bridge over the course of two office visits. During the first visit, the team prepares your surrounding tooth for the new bridge and then takes an impression to create the prosthetic.

It takes about seven days for the lab to create your custom-made dental bridge. Once it’s ready, you come back to the office for placement.

What happens after placement of the dental bridge?

Dental bridges are durable, and with good care and regular follow-ups at Garden Oaks Dental, your bridge may last decades.

To ensure longevity, the team at Garden Oaks Dental recommends you treat your bridge like all your other teeth and brush and floss daily. Coming in for your regularly scheduled checkups also ensures proper cleaning and health of the bridge and the supporting teeth.

After placement of your bridge, you not only smile more, but may notice an improvement in your speech and bite.

For more information about dental bridges, call the office today or book an appointment online.