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"Flipper"
Temporary:
A
"flipper" (temporary,
with no involvement of adjacent teeth)
is a plastic partial denture with a tooth bonded to
its front edge. On the upper arch, it covers all or part of your palate
and is an excellent, temporary solution.
Disadvantages:
It tends to feel bulky and
make speaking difficult. It becomes loose, and it may fall out of place.
If
you have a high smile line (your lip comes up fairly high when you smile)
it may not look as natural as you would like. Flippers are widely used by
Dentists as a temporary replacement for missing teeth. They tend to work
more effectively on the upper teeth. Although some people attempt to wear
them as if they were permanent repairs, they are definitely short-term
solutions.
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Maryland
Bridge:
Installing a resin-bonded Maryland
bridge requires a slight reduction of the backs of the adjacent
teeth. The
bridge, which includes a replacement tooth with small 'wings' attached, is
bonded in place. It's an aesthetically-pleasing missing tooth replacement
that requires only minimal tooth reduction, but it can not be used if your
bite is off or if you grind heavily on your front teeth.
If you do not want any part of your adjacent teeth
reduced to help support a dental bridge, then you only have two options:
implants or partial
dentures.
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Implants:
A dental implant is a small
titanium metal
cylinder that is surgically implanted in the bone of the jaw to replace the
root of a missing tooth. A crown can then be attached to the implant with
a screw, or the crown may be directly cemented onto an extension that is
threaded into the implant.
Advantages:
An implant doesn't involve
grinding or reduction of the adjacent teeth. It looks natural, and helps
to reduce the bone and ridge loss that often occurs after a tooth has been
removed.
Disadvantages:
An implant requires three to
nine months to complete (the implant requires several months to fuse to
the bone), it is the most expensive of all options, and it requires
surgical placement (a minor surgical procedure).
Alternatives to Partial Dentures:
In
those cases where not
enough
teeth exist to place a bridge, the problem can be solved by placing an implant.
A
dental implant is a small titanium cylinder that's surgically inserted
into the bone of the jaw to replace the root of a missing tooth.
Although
not necessarily recommended in most cases, removing the rest of your teeth and
replacing them with a denture is another alternative.
You can also delay treatment, but be
aware that infected teeth and gums never heal on their own. They simply keep
getting worse. If you are not experiencing constant severe pain, you might decide to leave
your teeth as they are, at least for now, but that could prove to be
risky. Infections of the teeth and gums can weaken your body's immune system, and
that could result in affecting your overall health.
In
some cases, a partial denture is the best
alternative to fill in spaces left by missing teeth and to keep you chewing comfortably and
effectively.
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