Are you missing one or more of your natural teeth? If so, the team here at Mercersburg Family Dentistry can take care of your dental problems. We have solutions that can help you regain your smile and eat normally again. If you have lost a permanent tooth, you do not have to continue suffering from difficulty eating or the loss of an attractive smile.
With a well-crafted dental bridge, you can eat normally, have a brilliant smile, and experience improved speech. Under the direction of Dr. Jacqueline Hughes, Mercersburg Family Dentistry offers caring, passionate, and knowledgeable dental care. You have 43 facial muscles, and many of them are active when you smile. We can help you make sure those muscles are getting worked out again so you can show off your perfect smile!
How We Bridge the Gap
If you have gaps in your teeth, they do more than kill the beauty of your smile. They increase the risks of periodontal disease and tooth decay, weaken gum lines, and can be the predecessor to temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ). We use the three major bridge strategies whose effectiveness is proven in modern dentistry.
- Cantilever bridges – This kind of bridge connects a set of teeth or a tooth on one end. This technique is best suited for mouth areas where heavy chewing does not occur.
- Maryland bridges – An excellent solution for a missing single tooth, it usually does not require the removal of natural teeth. However, it does have the least pleasing aesthetic appearance.
- Traditional bridges – Most commonly used, this involves crowns or implants on each side of the bridge.
Bridge Technological Advances
Technological advances in dentistry continue to improve, so we continue to update our skills and adapt to new technology. One of the latest advances involves using mini-implants to serve as anchors for dental bridges to improve the stability. Dr. Hughes is carefully studying this strategy and other dental bridge advances to understand their feasibility.