Have you previously lost teeth due to extraction or poor oral health? Do you want to know your options to how to replace the gap that you now have? Below are 4 easy options broken down to help you decide what might be the right direction for you. 

1. Do nothing

Sometimes on discussion with an implant clinician, both the clinician and the patient reach the decision that it isn’t necessary to replace the teeth for functional or aesthetic reasons. In this instance the best treatment is to do nothing and to accept the situation overall.

There are different types of dentures and denture designs which can fairly simply and non-invasively replace missing teeth. Dentures can be made of acrylic (plastic) or metal base (cobalt chrome) with acrylic overlay.

Different types of dentures are available depending on the different individual patient and different standards of dentures are also available. They can be discussed fully with treating clinicians.

3. Dental bridgework

The use of dental bridgework of different designs can often be used to replace missing teeth in some cases where existing teeth are still present.

The principle of a bridge is to attach a false tooth to one tooth of one side of a gap generally to the other side of the gap, this can be cemented into position to be secure, to allow good aesthetics and functions.

The benefits of a bridge over a denture are that they’re none removable and generally do not extend into the palate or deep into the mouth so often more comfortable.

Suitability for bridges can be restricted depending upon the health of the neighbouring teeth and the overall clinical situation. Generally, there are two types of bridges that be used:

A: Adhesive bridges that stick on the neighbouring teeth and cause little or no damage to the adjacent teeth as part of the process.

These can be more tenuous and likely to fall out, but the benefit is that they’re less destructive.

B: Fixed bridges which generally involve crowning the teeth on one or either side of the gap.

If the teeth are not yet crowned it will mean cutting down the teeth on either side of the gap to produce a fixed bridge, but these do not require a surgical intervention and can be less expensive than dental implants. The disadvantage of this situation is that they can ultimately lead to the loss of teeth either side of the gap in extreme cases.

4. A dental implant

The benefits of dental implants if appropriate are that they do not lead to damage to the adjacent teeth and can provide fixed restorations on more secure dentures.

They require surgical treatment and planning and are often more expensive than dentures or bridgework.

Each of these should be discussed in detail and in terms that you understand by your treating implant clinician. You will be able to obtain accurate estimates for the cost of treatment, for guarantees and for the likely longevity of the treatment overall based on an average patient situation.