If I Have A Missing Tooth, Do I Need An Implant Or A Bridge?

Welcome aboard, DentAbroaders! Who wonders the answer to this question? “If you have a missing tooth, will you need an implant or a bridge?”

Well… To give a proper explanation to this one, we have to be clear about those two expressions; a bridge  and an implant.

Let’s begin with the bridge’s definition. You must have known what a crown is by now, for those who still don’t know what a crown is (which is a shame by the way – c’mon DentAbroaders!); a crown is basically a cap that envelops your tooth from every surface. And the bridge is basically three crowns attached to one another. It is a one-piece, solid unit which consists of three crowns attached to each other. But that means, if you have one missing tooth, you have to have the adjacent teeth of the gap filed down and used as anchors of your bridge. If those teeth are not quite healthy and already need crowns on top them, then it would be the right decision to have a bridge to fill the missing tooth’s gap. Double win!

But if the adjacent teeth are healthy and don’t need any crowns on top of them, then you can think about getting an implant placed into the gap. ‘Cause getting two healthy teeth filed down just for filling one gap isn’t actually the most reasonable decision to make.

At this point, i’ll talk about implants a little bit. Then we can return to their pros and cons.

An implant is a titanium screw that is placed into your jaw bone and is similar to a tooth’s root, an artificial one of course. Thus, without touching the adjacent teeth (or if there are no adjacent teeth on either side of the gap to use as anchors), you can simply have a crown on top of your implant. So when there’s insufficient anchors around the gap, having an implant becomes your one and only option. Or when the adjacent anchors are not strong enough to be anchors or when they’re too healthy to damage by filing process. Then it is wiser to have an implant placed into that gap.

Also, when you choose to have an implant placed into your jawbone to replace your missing tooth’s root, it preserves your jawbone volume and prevents it from further reduction. In that manner, that’s a huge plus on the implant’s side ‘cause having a bridge doesn’t offer that kind of an advantage. But implants are more expensive compared to the bridges. So if you’re on a budget or if you don’t have enough bone volume to place an implant in it, then you should probably plan for having a bridge done. Yes, to have an implant placed, you should have enough bone volume to hold the implant in the first place. But that kind of a condition isn’t needed for having a bridge. That’s another plus on the bridge’s side and unfortunately a cons on the implant’s side. However it is sometimes possible to create enough bone volume with bone grafts but that would mean more and more expenses for the implant. As i said, regardless of your bone volume you can always have a bridge done for a cheaper price, as long as you have two solid anchors adjacent to the gap. 

I don’t wanna be boring and i surely don’t like being boring but, guys, someone should clarify these things for you, right? So blame on me for all this confusing stuff… But please give me a sign, are you following?

Okay, for those who could followed me up until now… What have we learned, fellas?

Implants are more expensive but more conservative way for replacing a missing tooth. And they require at least two visits to your dentist (yes, you might be learning this info for the first time in this article but those who already read. “Can Dental Implant Placement Be Done In A Week?” already knew that they require at least two visits). 

Bridges are easy and fast to have. They can be done in a week with only one visit. And they are way much cheaper than implants.

So, as always, it’s your call. You have to think it through and make the decision that suits you best for replacing your missing tooth. If you have any further questions, i’m here to help you guys. You can always contact us! Our lovely Team DentAbroad will be more than happy to help you! Take care DentAbroaders, see you soon!