Dental implants and bridges are both replacements for your lost tooth. Tooth loss is one of the most common dental issues, especially among adults. After you lose your tooth, you need to get a false tooth in order to replace the lost tooth and restore your teeth’s function and the beauty of your smile.
Although dental implants and dental bridges aim to replace lost teeth, they have many differences, and each of them has its own benefits. If you are wondering whether a dental implant or dental bridge is the best choice, depending on your situation and your special needs, read this article to get more information about dental implants and dental bridges.
What Are Dental Implants?
A dental implant is an artificial tooth that aims to replace your lost tooth. This structure consists of 3 parts: crown, abutment, and the screw-like implant. The crown is the part that will be seen as your tooth. Crowns are custom-made in dental laboratories to fit properly and look like natural teeth. Crowns are mostly made of very durable porcelain or ceramic materials.
Read more: A Comprehensive Guide on All-on-4 Dental Implants
Sometimes, the crown is made to fill the space of more than one missing tooth. The abutment is the part that connects the crown to the metal screw. The implant itself is the metallic part that will be inserted into the jawbone to replace the missing tooth’s root. Dental implants are usually made of high-quality medical-grade titanium.
This overall perfect structure makes dental implants a very functional, natural-looking, and durable structure. To perfectly place the implant into the jawbone, minor surgery is needed.
What Are Dental Bridges?
A dental bridge is a prosthodontic structure custom-made to replace one or more missing teeth, which are placed between at least two natural teeth. With a dental bridge, false teeth will be fixed on the jaw, using the support of other healthy teeth. Bridges can contain 3 crowns to replace one missing tooth or more crowns if more teeth are lost. Crowns placed on the two opposite sides will be bonded to healthy teeth to keep the structure. Dental bridges are custom-made structures, and they don’t need surgery to be placed inside the mouth.
Dental Implant Vs. Dental Bridge: Pros and Cons
Dental implants and bridges can both replace one’s missing tooth. Contrary to their similar goals, they have different properties and benefits. Here is more detailed information about each one’s advantages and disadvantages:
Dental Implant Advantages
Being teeth-like and natural looking: Dental implants look and feel just like your own natural teeth. They are made to match the appearance of other teeth perfectly.
- High Durability: Dental implants are made from high-quality, durable materials like titanium and porcelain. Dental implants can last many years or even a lifetime with proper care.
- Offering Better Oral Health: Implants don’t need the support of nearby teeth, so your natural teeth stay healthy and strong. They also help maintain your jawbone’s strength.
- Being More Comfortable: Implants are strongly fixed into your jawbone, so they won’t move around, contrary to dentures. They feel and function exactly like your natural teeth.
- Helping Eat and Chew Better: With dental implants, you can eat your favorite foods without any concern. Implants are strong and work like real teeth, and they help you eat and chew naturally.
- Make You Speak Clearly: Implants stay in place because they are fixed in your bone, so you can speak without any problems.
- The Ability to Maintain Jawbone’s Structure: When you lose a tooth, the jawbone can shrink and lose its natural and strong structure. Implants help keep the jawbones healthy and strong by acting like natural teeth roots.
- Being Easy to Care For: You can take care of implants just like your natural teeth. Brush and floss them every day as usual without any special care.
- Boosting Confidence: With implants, it is like you have your natural teeth, so you can smile naturally and confidently. This can make you feel better about yourself in social and work situations.
- Keep Your Face Shape: Missing teeth can change the shape of your face. Implants help keep your face looking natural and youthful.
- Being Immune to cavities: Implants can’t get cavities, though you still need to keep your gums healthy with good oral care.
- Staying in Place: Unlike bridges, implants stay in place and don’t rely on nearby teeth for support.
- The Ability to Protect Nearby Teeth: Bridges need to be attached to other teeth, which can weaken these teeth. Implants can stand alone without the possible risk of harming your other teeth.
- Preventing Teeth from Shifting: When you lose a tooth, other teeth can move out of their original place. Implants fill the gap and keep your teeth in the right place.
- Making You Feel Secure: Implants are fixed strongly into your jaw, so you don’t have to worry about them slipping or moving.
- Being a Better Long-Term Replacement: Bridges might need to be replaced after some years, but implants are much more durable, and they can last a very long time.
Read more: Dental Implants Vs. Crowns: Which Is Right for You?
Dental Implant Disadvantages
- Being Expensive: Dental implants can be more expensive than other options like dentures or bridges, and not all insurance plans cover them. Dental implants are more expensive at first, but they are worth the cost as they are highly durable and last a long time.
- Needing Surgery and More Healing Time: Getting implants requires surgery, which can be uncomfortable for some people, and it also has minor risks like infection or nerve damage. Moreover, the healing process might take several months.
- Requiring Multiple Visits and Being Time-Consuming: The dental implantation process involves several dental visits and can be time-consuming, especially if it includes additional procedures like bone grafting if there isn’t enough jawbone.
- Not Being Suitable for Everyone: Some people may not be good candidates for implants due to insufficient jawbone, certain health diseases, heavy smoking, or potential allergic reactions to materials, especially metals (as implants are made of titanium, a metal).
- Possible Complications: Although it is very rare for your implant surgery to be performed by an experienced dentist, complications such as implant failure, infection, or changes in the jawbone over time can affect the implant’s stability and appearance. This problem also depends on your aftercare for your dental implant.
- Having Initial Discomfort and Maintenance: There can be a little pain and swelling after dental implant surgery. Good oral hygiene is essential to prevent gum disease around the implant after the surgery, but the implant itself can’t get cavities.
Read more: What You Are Required to Do After Getting Dental Implants?
Dental Bridge Advantages
- Being Quick to Procedure: The procedure of getting dental bridges is usually faster than implant surgery, and it typically requires only a few visits to the dentist.
- Being Less Expensive: Bridges usually cost less than implants, which can make them a more affordable option for replacing missing teeth.
- No Need for Surgery: Getting bridges does not require any kind of surgery. This advantage eliminates surgical risks and makes the procedure simpler.
- The Ability to Restore Teeth’s Function and Appearance: Bridges help restore your ability to chew and speak properly, and they match the color and shape of your natural teeth.
- Supporting Surrounding Teeth and Bite: By filling the gap between healthy teeth, bridges help maintain the position of surrounding teeth, prevent shifting, and distribute bite forces evenly.
- Providing Stability and Preserving Facial Shape: Although not as strongly as dental implants, bridges are fixed in place so they can offer stability similar to natural teeth and help maintain the natural shape of your face.
- Being Good for Multiple Missing Teeth and Requiring Low Maintenance: Bridges are suitable for replacing more than one missing tooth in a row, and you can take care of them with regular brushing and flossing.
Dental Bridge Disadvantages
- Being Less Durable: Bridges typically do not last as long as dental implants, so they may need to be replaced after some years.
- Affecting Surrounding Teeth: Bridges require the alteration of adjacent healthy teeth to anchor the bridge, which can weaken those teeth over time.
- Risk of Decay and Disease: The supporting teeth for the bridge are still at risk of decaying and causing gum disease.
- Needing More Maintenance: Bridges require better-maintained oral hygiene to prevent plaque buildup around the bridge and supporting teeth.
- Limited Bone Preservation: Unlike implants, bridges do not act like teeth roots to strengthen the jawbone, which can lead to bone loss in the area of the missing tooth.
- Being Less Natural in Feel: Bridges may not feel exactly as natural as implants since they are not fixed into your jawbones.
- Having the Potential for Slipping or Loosening: Bridges can become loose over time if the supporting teeth weaken or in cases of significant bone loss.
Read more: Root Canal Treatment Side Effects, Risks and Complications
Dental Implant and Bridge Costs
Dental implants cost more than bridges do, but they can last very long, even for a lifetime. Although the cost of a bridge is less than dental implants, they may require renewal after a few years. The cost of a dental implant might be considered high, but you usually just pay once for them, and you can enjoy their benefits for a lifetime. Another reason that dental implants are cost-effective overall is that they prevent further potential oral and dental complications, so you can save money over time.
Read more: 7 Types of Cosmetic Dentistry Procedures
Which One Is Right for Me? Walk-in Dental Clinic Helps You Decide!
Dental implants and bridges can benefit those missing one or more teeth. They can help you restore the function of your teeth, make them look natural, and lead to a confident and beautiful smile. The best way to choose between these two tooth replacement options is to consult with an experienced dentist.
The emergency dentist in Toronto will examine your oral and overall health condition and help you make the best choice, considering your needs. Here at Walk-in Dental Clinic, our highly skilled dental staff is ready to help you with your dental implant or bridge.