If you suffer missing teeth and want to close that gap with teeth replacement, dental appliances like bridges offer means of doing so. Your dentist helps you understand this option and other available procedures. So, how long do dental bridges last and are they right for you? Learn more about bridges below.
What Are Bridges?
Bridges are dental appliances that help you complete your smile after losing one or more teeth. These devices cement onto your existing teeth or implants surrounding the gap when your dentist believes they suit your individual needs.
Gaps left by missing teeth cause many dental problems and lead you to need other emergency dental services unless you fill the gap with an appropriate appliance or implant. This is why bridges prove so helpful, beyond helping you regain eating functioning.
Some problems caused by not replacing missing teeth including dental decay, shifting teeth, and a bad bite. To keep your natural teeth in place and promote your best oral health, your dentist possibly considers a bridge. But how long do dental bridges last?
How Long Do Dental Bridges Last?
Dental bridges last as long as a decade with good oral hygiene and appliance care. These replacements for missing teeth help you maintain your best oral health, just as good oral health helps you maintain the bridge. Threats to the bridge’s lifespan include foods you eat and neglecting your oral health care.
The Cleveland Clinic reports that bridges usually last between five and seven years. But other resources report bridges lasting 10 years or more when well-cared-for. How long your bridge lasts depends on how well you care for it and manage your oral health and hygiene.
How to Prevent Your Bridge’s Failure
To enable your bridge to last 10 years or longer, you must take good care of it. You also need to take care of surrounding teeth, particularly the ones supporting your bridge. Many people suffer decay in these supportive teeth, then losing their ability to keep a bridge in place. Gum disease poses another threat to your bridge life span, often making root canals necessary in supportive teeth.
The best way to prevent your bridge from failing is to eat a healthy diet that does not include foods damaging to a bridge. A bridge-friendly diet includes fruits, vegetables, and other fiber. This also promotes good oral health and keeps supportive teeth strong.
Avoid sticky, sweet or hard foods, such as taffy, candies, popcorn, and nuts. These foods put a strain on your bridge and can break the appliance. They also lead to breaks and decay in supportive teeth.
Taking Good Care of Your Dental Bridge
Taking good care of your dental bridge helps you maintain it for years, possibly even a decade. This care involves good oral hygiene on a twice-daily basis. You need to brush your teeth two times each day using fluoride toothpaste. You also need to floss your teeth each day, to prevent cavities.
Visiting your dentist at least twice each year plays a big role in the durability of your bridge. You need these appointments for oral exams, to check bridge functioning and for professional teeth cleanings. Meeting your twice-annual dental needs help the dentist predict your bridge wear, answering your question of, “How long do dental bridges last?”
Bridges and Other Dental Care In Cinco Ranch, TX
Lovett Dental provides teeth replacement dental care in Cinco Ranch, TX including:
Contact Lovett Dental Cinco Ranch at 713-244-7799 to schedule your visit. Ask how long do dental bridges last and get to know more about your own oral health while at the dentist’s office.
