Dental bridges — Sterling, Virginia
Dental bridges, and when an implant is the better answer
A bridge fills a gap by anchoring a replacement tooth to the teeth on either side of it. It works, it has worked for decades, and it is sometimes the right call. It also has a cost that rarely gets explained, so here it is.
Two visits
A lab case, never a same-day one
Both options
Bridge and implant, priced side by side
In writing
What each asks of the teeth you still have
How a bridge actually works
Dentists call the replacement tooth in the middle a pontic, and it attaches to nothing underneath. It rests on the gum and gets its support entirely from the teeth either side.
Those neighbouring teeth are the part worth understanding. To carry the span we have to prepare them for crowns, which means shaping enamel away from two teeth that may be perfectly healthy. That enamel never grows back, and those teeth stay crowned for life.
The second thing a bridge does not do is load the bone under the gap. Bone keeps what it uses, so the ridge under a pontic keeps narrowing whether or not there is a tooth sitting above it.
The honest comparison
So when is a bridge the right answer
When the teeth either side already need crowns, a bridge costs you nothing extra in tooth structure, and it becomes a straightforwardly good option.
It also suits people who cannot have surgery, who do not want it, or who need the gap closed sooner than an implant timeline allows. A bridge usually takes two visits over a few weeks.
An implant is often the better answer when the neighbouring teeth are healthy and untouched. It replaces the root as well as the crown, so it loads the bone and leaves the teeth either side alone.
We do both here, and that matters more than it might sound at first. A practice that only places one of them will tend to recommend the one it places.
What the visits look like
A bridge is a laboratory case, not a same-day one. We prepare the teeth and scan them at the first visit, fit a temporary bridge, then seat the finished one when the lab returns it. Straightforward single crowns we do mill in the office, but a span is a different job.
We also make implant-supported bridges, where implants rather than natural teeth carry the span. That route leaves your own teeth untouched and is often the answer when several teeth in a row are missing.
Questions about bridges
Where to start
Book a consult and see both options side by side
We will look at the gap, the teeth either side and the bone underneath. You will get both options in writing, with what each costs and what each asks of the teeth you still have.