How Many Teeth Does an Implant Supported Bridge Have?
You already know that you can replace a missing tooth with a dental implant and that you can use dental implants to support multiple missing teeth. A dental bridge can use a combination of traditional attachments with a dental implant to ensure its stability and strength compared to a traditional dental bridge alone.
In most cases, dentists are able to use as little as one or as many as eight dental implants to support two to fourteen bridged teeth. The general rule of thumb is two implants can support two to four teeth and four to six implants can replace a full jaw of teeth. Not every case will be able to rely on the least number of dental implants, but the dentist will review your jaw bone health, overall health, and medical history to help determine the best treatment for your missing teeth.
There are different kinds of dental implant supported bridges available to replace your missing teeth while working with the teeth you still have.
1. Three to Four Implant Bridge
In the case of simple implant supported bridges, the bridge replaces three to four teeth in the same space. The dentist places implants on either end of the gap in your teeth and the bridge attaches to the implants at those spots. The dentist can use this traditional approach alone or in combination with other dental fixtures to give you the best possible results and help you achieve the smile you long to share with the world.
The dentist may think the best option is to place the implants close to each other in the gap between your teeth, but this may not be ideal for your missing teeth because the teeth towards the ends of the gap may not be evenly supported. Depending on the teeth and the specifics of your mouth, it may be best to place three separate implants and three separate crowns. You may find that this option is more expensive than the dental bridge, but you may appreciate the ease of cleaning and the very natural look of the individual crowns.
2. Cantilever Implant Bridge
These types of bridges are only successful in cases where the unsupported length of the bridge is one half or less the overall length of the supported section of the bridge. Because a bridge replaces multiple missing teeth, a bridge costs less than replacing each missing tooth separately. A cantilever bridge is ideal in the cases where there is not enough space in the gap or on the jaw to have individual implants. To ensure the success of the dental implant procedure, the implants need to be more than 1mm apart from one another. The jaw bone will remain stronger from the stimulation of individual implants, but the cost of those implants may be too high to consider.
3. Front Teeth Implant Bridge
When the dentist is trying to replace your missing front four teeth, the dentist may be able to use two implants for the four teeth. After the implants are placed, they will need to heal before the dentist can placed the abutments on top of the implanted post above the gums where the crowns will attach.