There are two main types of dental bridges. The first, conventional method involves preparing the supporting teeth to standard paralell cores and the second uses minimal preparation and special adhesive techniques.
Both techniques are dependant on the presence of strong supporting teeth with healthy gums and are limited by the length of the space it is intended to span. The conventional method is still widely used but is being replaced by placing implants in the spaces.
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The continuing development of sand blasted gold surfaces and special adhesive techniques has allowed greater predictability and confidence in adhesive bridgework. Adhesive bridges are composed of the tooth itself which is normally made of porcelain to match the adjacent teeth and an integral wing of gold which is bonded onto the adjacent tooth.
The main advantage of adhesive bridges is that they require very little tooth preparation which can usually be done without any need for local anaesthetic. Their use is limited by the space needed for the wing unit and are not appropriate for people with a very close bite. |
