According to Cleveland Clinic, dental bridges can last at least five to seven years, and if you practice good oral hygiene and visit your dentist regularly, they can last over 10 years. In this study, 156 dental bridges built for 132 people were evaluated. The bridges introduced at King Saud University (KSU) College of Dentistry, Saudi Arabia, were compared with the bridges used in general dental practice. The results showed that the bridge failure rate was 35.5% on average.
This was made up for by the failure of bridges used by KSU (15.4%) and bridges in general dental practice (46.2%). The main reasons for the failure revealed in this study were periodontal disease (36.6%) and secondary caries (23.2%). The average lifespan of the bridges was 6.1 years and the unfailing bridges 4.5 years. The most common material used for bridges was metal ceramic.
The most commonly used Pontic design was the modified ridge position (50.8%), but the saddle type was responsible for the largest percentage of failures (59.6%). The most common reason that dental bridges fail is poor oral hygiene, such as not brushing twice a day or flossing every evening. Your bridge is supported by abutment teeth over which dental crowns are glued. Although your bridge is not at risk of tooth decay, your crowned teeth can be damaged by harmful bacteria.
It’s best to thoroughly clean the area of your crowns and bridge when brushing and flossing to keep your teeth strong. It is important that oral hygiene is maintained at a high level as the bridge system makes cleaning teeth a bit more difficult as you can no longer floss between the bridged teeth. Instead, you must use a special floss threader, or “super floss,” to get under the bridge. A dental bridge is made of porcelain, ceramic, gold or an alloy, depending on the patient’s requirements and preferences. A bridge consists of two or more dental crowns that are fixed to cover both sides of a gap created by a missing tooth.
According to the experienced dentists at Lane and Associates Family Dentistry, patients should avoid using the dental bridge for parafunctional purposes, such as biting nails or using teeth as a tool. Here are 4 of the most common causes of dental bridge failure and what you can do to protect your investment. A dental bridge fills the space created after the loss of one or more teeth and can last 10-15 years. Tidu Mankoo has almost 30 years of experience treating complex dental bridge problems and other defective teeth. This allows hundreds of people to enjoy a new quality of life year after year.
Other factors can shorten the life of bridges even further, such as using teeth that have been previously treated with root canal therapy to support a bridge. If you are missing one or more teeth in a row, a fixed dental bridge is a convenient solution to close the gap. The replacement of a dental bridge depends on the patient’s bite force, dietary habits, the general condition of the teeth and gums, and the quality of oral hygiene.
