How Long Do Dental Bridges Last

 

Dental bridges have helped many people, but “how long do dental bridges last?” is one of the main questions people may wonder about when it comes to considering this procedure as a permanent solution for missing teeth. Dental bridges are meant to help the mouth restore functionality and preserve some of the structural stability that comes from having all the teeth in the mouth. Many people don’t realize that it is important in dental care to replace missing teeth to sustain oral hygiene because of the bone loss that will occur without the teeth or an implant, thus finding a permanent solution for a missing tooth requires a knowledge of how the various options might fulfill the needs.

 

How long do dental bridges last? Is a question best answered by understanding the many circumstances that affect the durability of dental bridges. Dental bridges are easy to clean, and important to keep clean, and good oral hygiene can affect how long a person will enjoy healthy dental bridges.

The Short Answer

Since there are so many parts to answering the above mentioned question, the best short answer a person can give, is that in general 5-10 years can be expected. The problem with this answer is that 5-10 years is such a wide spread of variance for duration of life that it can really affect the true permanency of the bridge installed. Some dentists will tell you the average is 8-10 years, and others have claimed that dental bridges can last up to 15 years. In reality, the short answer doesn’t give enough of an answer to be very helpful.

 

A few criteria for the answers supplied here. Dental bridges are subjected to many harsh conditions: chewing, speaking, hot and cold, occasional trauma, or changing facial structure. The installation, general hygienic and dental care, and eating habits, are the three main criteria that will affect how long a permanent dental bridge might last.

 

First Factor: Installation

A dental bridge is installed in generally one of four ways:

• Traditional porcelain bridges: these are fixed in the mouth with the two teeth adjacent to the missing tooth being fitted with crowns that hold up the fake tooth.
• Cantilever bridges: these bridges fit into the mouth with only one natural tooth serving to hold up the bridge.
• Maryland bridges: a fake tooth is fixed in the mouth upon a metal fixture that holds the pontic in place.
• Dental Implant Bridges: these bridges are held in place by dental implants instead of natural teeth being used as the anchors.

The kind of dental bridge that the patient has the dentist install will not only affect the cost of the dental bridge, but it will affect the duration of the appliances life. Traditional porcelain bridges is going to be the most durable because it uses natural teeth as an anchor for an entire fixture as opposed to the Maryland bridge that uses natural teeth but only a small metal appliance.

 

Second Factor: Good Oral Hygiene

Having good oral health is going to play a tremendous role in how long the bridge lasts comfortable and effectively. A dental bridge can actually hold debris and bacteria against the natural tooth stuck beneath the crown. This is just one example of a situation where a lack of flossing, brushing and washing can cause the natural tooth to literally rot away. The best way to ensure a dental bridge lasts in the mouth is to keep it under the highest level of oral care. Brushing and using the proper flossing instruments preserves your natural teeth and hopefully your bridge for as long as possible.

 

 Third Factor: Eating Habits

Not only do the eating habits affect how well the bridge works, but they can affect what happens to the bridge structurally. It is smartest to avoid eating things like caramel, taffy and other hard or sticky candies. These can put stress on the bridge and cause it to literally crack. Chewing down on a popcorn kernel, or absentmindedly chomping into something hard can also mean cracks and fractures. Cracks leave room for bacteria and decay, fractures can hurt your mouth and require extensive repair.

Dental bridges are incredibly helpful for many people as they can help to retain a normalcy of both eating and speaking, and they will last as long as they are treated with care. Good oral hygiene and healthy eating habits will make sure they are of service for a permanent amount of time, in some cases up to 15 years!

It’s a silly question, not to ask mind you, it’s a silly question because the answer is not an exact science. There are a lot of parts to the life of your dental bridges and knowing how long do dental bridges last is like knowing how many times it’s going to rain. We can predict it, but we can’t tell you exactly. There are though a few factors that can be very helpful to you in determining how your dental bridges will survive. The first factor is what kind of bridges you have installed in your mouth. Did you know there are 4 different kinds of dental bridges? They each have a different life expectancy and its based upon the teeth they are connected to.

 

Maryland bridges for instance, are metal appliances that are just hooked to the back of the abutment teeth by a bonding agent. They are permanent as long as the bonding agent holds. That doesn’t make them the strongest of the bridges so that means they will have a shorter life span. Traditional bridges with two crowns and a pontic affixed between the two, those are the heartiest kinds of bridges and they are very strong and durable.

 

Getting your bridges installed is simply the first step of the process of course. It is important to remember that the way you take care of your bridges is going to have the biggest effect upon how long they last. So take good care of your bridges and sometimes they can last up to 15 years.

 

This is a common question for those people who have had the sad experience of losing teeth and trying to figure the best way to go about replacing them. Dental bridges are important because they can help retain the structural stability of your mouth. Dental bridges are therefore as close as we can get them, a permanent solution for missing teeth. Which is why they are always questioned as to how long they will live.

 

Dental bridges all depend on the certain conditions they are under for the person whom they have been specifically installed on. A good dental bridge can actually last up to 12 or sometimes 15 years. That’s of course the very far end of the scale. The more common solutions are around 8 years, and some will only last for 5 years. What is important is how the teeth have been treated by the person with the dental bridge. The kind of dental bridge can play a role in what happens during the lifespan of the unit, but almost more significant is what a person eats.

 

If you eat a lot of sticky or hard candies, perhaps popcorn kernels or something like that, you stand the chances of actually cracking or fracturing your bridge. With a fracture debris can get stuck beneath the bridge and there it will rot until it decays away the healthy teeth. It is important to take good care of your teeth. Then your dental bridge will last longer.

 

If you don’t make sure that you are taking care of your dental bridges you might find yourself in a pickle. Dental bridges are important they can help keep your face structurally sound and healthy. If you lose too many teeth, and don’t get them replaced there will be a loss of bone and that will lead to a sunken face. So getting your missing teeth replaced is very important.

 

The way you take care of your dental bridge is also important. If you don’t make sure to get the right kind of floss and the kind of tooth care materials you will find that bad things can happen.  For example, the life of your dental bridges can be cut short if you don’t take care of your teeth. If debris can get into cracks in your bridges it can catch and end up rotting in there so that it will eventually cause your teeth to decay. This is one of the quickest ways to cause your dental bridge to need replacement. It is important that you take care because the better you care for your dental bridges the better they will last. Dental bridges can last up to 10 years if you care for them properly. Eating sticky candy, or hard foods can actually fracture your bridges so eating wisely is important.