Is there an alternative to getting bridge dental work?

You could always get a partial denture instead of a bridge... or an implant. Discuss different options with your dentist.

Is there an alternative to getting bridge dental work?
Get implants, I have two and they are great. They are expensive but worth every penny. Also compared with some bridge work, implants are not really to much different in price. Now if you are a smoker or have periodontal disease this may not be the best route to go. Talk you your dentist, and have him/her give you an estimate of what each would cost.
Reply:implants,or partial denture
Reply:I wouldn't get a bridge if I were you. You're only missing one tooth right now and to put the bridge on the dentist will have to cut apart the teeth on either side of it. A bridge usually only lasts about 8 years and when it finally does fail you'll be in much worse shape than you are now.





Depending on which tooth it is, there is one type of bridge called a Maryland bridge that glues onto the back of the teeth next to it. This has a shorter life than the normal bridge, but won't damage your other teeth (much).





A partial denture sucks, I would only use that as a stopgap so you're not missing a highly visible tooth during the waiting times for other procedures. Food gets caught under it and it may affect your speech.





Your best option is an implant even though it's pretty expensive. Try to get the implant as soon as you can after losing the other tooth. With no tooth in that place the bone that used to seat the tooth will slowly recede, so if you wait too long you may need to get a bone graft before they can place an implant. The only down side of the implant is that it takes a long time. I just had a bone graft and have to wait 6 months for it to heal before he can place an implant. The dentist said he can place a temporary tooth on the implant as soon as he places it, and it takes 4 months for the implant site to heal before they can do the final crown.





To give you a general idea of what it costs, here is what my dentist is charging me (it's usually not covered by insurance).





Bone graft $1700


Implant $1700


Crown $1200





The costs end up spread out over about a year though because you have to wait 4-6 months after each step.