Dental bridge

A bridge is a fixed dental restoration used to replace a missing tooth by joining an artificial tooth permanently to adjacent teeth or dental implants. A bridge is fabricated by reducing the teeth on either side of the missing tooth or teeth by a preparation pattern determined by the location of the teeth and by the material from which the bridge is fabricated. In other words, the abutment teeth are reduced in size to accommodate the material to be used to restore the size and shape of the original teeth in a correct alignment and contact with the opposing teeth. The dimensions of the bridge are defined by Ante's Law: "The root surface area of the abutment teeth has to equal or surpass that of the teeth being replaced".

Types and materials used for bridges

The materials used for the bridges include gold, porcelain fused to metal, or in certain cases porcelain alone. The amount and type of reduction done to the abutment teeth varies slightly with the different materials used.

In addition to the above information concerning single-unit crowns, bridges have several additional features that should be kept in mind when it comes to the choice of preparation and treatment planning, preparation and production of dental materials.