Archive for the ‘Dental Bridges’ Category

Best way to replace missing lateral incisors

Saturday, January 15th, 2011

I am 46 and was born without my front lateral incisors. I have a space on the top sides of my mouth.

I am considering Invisalign or porcelain veneers. I am not sure if I would be a candidate for lumineers or another similar product. I know aging teeth may factor in whether I would be a good candidate for this procedure. I don’t want fake looking teeth. Which method of cosmetic treatment do you think would be best for me?
- Karen from Indiana

Karen,
I’m understanding that you are missing your upper lateral incisors, and you have spaces there right now. So you need teeth to fill in those spaces.

There are three good ways to put teeth in those spaces.

If the teeth surrounding the spaces are otherwise healthy and don’t have any large fillings, the best way to replace them would be with dental implants.You could have two implant fixtures placed in the bone in those spaces, wait a few weeks for it to heal, and then have teeth placed on them. If done by an excellent cosmetic dentist, the teeth would look real and would match the surrounding teeth so that no one could tell they aren’t real.

Another way to replace the teeth would be with dental bridges. You would have crowns placed on the teeth on either side of the space, and then the false tooth suspended between those crowns.

The cost of replacing these two teeth with either technique would be around $6000 to $10,000, if there are no complicating factors.

For a lot less money, you could get a temporary tooth replacement. For a couple hundred dollars, you could get a flipper partial. This is a plastic plate that fits up in the roof of your mouth and is fastened in with a couple of wire clips, and it would have the two false teeth attached to it.

I have seen some orthodontists and dentists that want to close the spaces by putting braces on the teeth or using Invisalign to move the canine teeth into the space of the lateral incisors. This never looks good. They figure they can put a crown or a porcelain veneer, or bonding on the canine to make it look like a lateral incisor. But the canine is a large tooth, and the lateral is quite a small tooth, so that’s like trying to put a disguise on chubby Santa Claus and getting him to look like skinny Peter Pan. It’ll never look quite right. Your teeth will never look quite natural doing it that way.

This blog sponsored by Colorado Springs dentist Dr. Joseph Rota.

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Do I need a missing back tooth replaced?

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

I have just had a tooth extracted 2 weeks ago and am supposed to be getting a bridge over time. however the price quoted is over $3500.00. I am now used to the tooth not being there(back tooth)., So, other than just being a cosmetic fix, can i go througjh life without getting the bridge done. Is there any meical reason for it….in other wors, i am just fine as is and rather keep my money. I know the denntist will insist, so i need a secon opinion.
- Andre from Montreal, Canada

Andre
If the tooth is a front tooth, the reason for replacing it is largely cosmetic and partly functional. But for a back tooth, there is an important health reason for replacing it.

The reason is that, when you’re missing a back tooth, the teeth next to it will drift into the empty space that’s left. The teeth on the sides tip into the space, and the opposing tooth drifts down or up, depending on whether it is an upper or lower tooth missing. This throws your jaw out of alignment, which can cause TMJ disorder. When teeth tip, it also helps contribute to periodontal disease (gum disease), and can lead to the eventual loss of those teeth, too.

While these teeth will start drifting within a couple of weeks, the difficulties don’t become apparent until years later. You probably wouldn’t think anything was wrong until a couple of years later you may start wondering why you have headaches all the time and you can’t bite together normally.

My recommendation would be to have the missing tooth replaced within a couple of weeks, before the teeth start drifting at all. This can be done either with a dental implant or a dental bridge. In some situations, a bridge is best, in other situations, the best choice would be an implant.

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