Types of Dental Bridges

Dental bridges are meant to literally bridge the gap between teeth or implants. They can be made from a variety of materials, including porcelain, gold and other metal alloys, and fit up against your gum line while attached to existing teeth on either side of the gab. There are three major types of bridge work available to patients suffering missing one or more teeth.

Traditional

• For traditional bridges, two crowns are made to attach to the existing teeth on either side of the gap, with a false tooth or teeth between the crowns to fill in the empty space. The crowns are also known as caps and can attach to real teeth as well as implants.

Cantilever

• These bridges are designed to be fixed to one adjacent tooth only. It minimizes the amount of damage to existing teeth, as only one needs to be trimmed and fastened with a crown. However, that portion of the mouth will not be able to endure extensive chewing stress as the bridge support is limited.

Maryland

• This bridge is also known as a resin bonded bridge, as it relies heavily on an adhesive bond to adjacent teeth rather than crown fitting. It minimizes damage to existing teeth but is also significantly weaker than other forms of bridgework. It is generally used only on front teeth, as chewing is limited in that area.