Bridges

Bridges are one of our specialties at Garrison Family Dentistry in Smithville. When people need extensive restorative work done, bridges allow multiple teeth to be restored at once. Depending on an individual patient’s needs, there are several forms a bridge might take.

A bridge is a prosthetic device made up of several crowns. The classic dental bridge was designed so that the crowns on its ends would be cemented over natural teeth, and there would be an additional artificial crown suspended between them. This design had the advantage of allowing patients to keep their natural tooth roots, which was good for the structure of their jaw and avoided lengthy surgical recoveries. However, it required the base crowns to be significantly reshaped, which is only ideal in circumstances in which those crowns would need to be replaced anyway.

Bridges can also be made in the form of partial dentures. These devices may clasp onto existing teeth, but they permit healthy intervening teeth to simply be left alone, instead of being extracted or reshaped. A partial denture may be supported by mini-implants. A bridge may also be supported by normally-sized implants if it is not meant to be removable.

Dr. Matthew Garrison operates at Garrison Family Dentistry, 14790 N. 169 Highway, Smithville, Missouri, 64089. To schedule an appointment, call 816-532-8778 or visit GarrisonDentistry.com and fill out a contact sheet.