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Dental Implants vs. Dental Bridges

If you are missing one or more teeth, Greenway Dental Care can provide you with the tooth replacement option that you need to restore your smile and your peace of mind. Fayetteville Dentist Office

Our Fayetteville, AR dentist office is home to restorative dentist Dr. Richard Keech. Dr. Keech has helped many patients restore their smiles after tooth loss with the help of dental bridges or dental implants. A thorough consultation with Dr. Keech will be necessary to discuss your tooth replacement options. If you are struggling to choose between dental bridges or dental implants, learn more about the differences between these options below.

Dental Bridges

Dental bridges can effectively bridge the gap in your smile created by missing teeth. Using fully external hardware, the bridge utilizes the support of your surrounding teeth to hold prosthetic teeth in place of the missing teeth. Often, patients choose to support their surrounding teeth with dental crowns since the bridge will place additional strain on them. This dental service does not require a surgical procedure and can usually be completed in two appointments. If you would like to complete the tooth replacement process sooner rather than later, this procedure does not have as extensive of a healing time as dental implants do. It’s important to consider that dental bridges are a cost-effective approach to tooth replacement; however, they will require lifestyle alterations to ensure the restored teeth last for many years. Patients will need to avoid excessively crunchy or chewy foods that could potentially damage the bridge hardware. Additionally, patients will need to learn how to clean around and beneath the dental bridge to ensure there is no food residue caught in the hardware.

Dental Implants

Dental implants are considered the premier tooth replacement option. This is because they are the only tooth replacement option that replaces the missing tooth roots as well as the missing tooth. Using a titanium post that is surgically implanted beneath your own soft tissues, the dental implant provides tooth-root functionality once fully healed. A dental crown is attached to the post to completely replace your missing tooth from the inside out. This option does not place additional strain on your remaining dental structures as dental bridges do. However, the healing time for dental implants can take anywhere from 6-11 months to complete. This is because the titanium post must fully fuse together with your jawbone before we can attach the dental crown. Despite the longer healing times, this treatment option has a high patient satisfaction rating because of the many benefits that dental implants provide that other replacement options do not.

Benefits of Dental Implants include:

  • A permanent solution for tooth loss
  • Allows patients to chew comfortably
  • Resembles the natural teeth
  • Promotes bone regeneration in the jaw
  • Improves appearance and speech
  • Cost-effective
  • Easy to maintain

If you are interested in learning more about your tooth replacement options, we invite you to visit Dr. Keech at Greenway Dental Care. Schedule an appointment by contacting us today, and we look forward to helping you restore your smile soon.