Today’s dental bridges are quite durable, and they can endure the force of your chewing and biting. Still, the fact remains that these prosthetics can fail early without proper care. You’ll need to look after your own carefully if you want them to last, or else you’ll need costly replacement work. Your Beaverton restorative dentist will even show you what that care involves. Just keep reading to discover what makes a dental bridge fail, as well as how to maintain one.
Common Causes of Dental Bridge Failure
While various factors can cause dental bridge failure, some are more typical than others. The most common ones include:
A Weak & Dirty Mouth
Even though they aren’t “real” teeth, dental bridges depend on a healthy mouth. A weak and dirty one will often make the restorations fail quickly.
Remember, dental bridges secure themselves with your nearby natural teeth. If these “abutments” decay or get infected, they’ll destabilize and fail to support your prosthetics. Your dental bridge will then eventually slip and fall out of your mouth, ruining your treatment results.
Bad Oral Habits
If you indulge in bad oral habits, it isn’t just your natural teeth that suffer. Your dental bridge is also likely to fail earlier than usual.
As tough as they are, dental bridges can’t handle anything and everything. They’ll slowly fracture and break apart when put under very intense pressure. Given that fact, bad habits like nail biting and teeth grinding are very risky to dental bridges. Such practices could compromise your restorations and lead to failure.
Poor Bridge Construction
A dental bridge doesn’t always fail due to lifestyle. In some cases, it can stop working because it wasn’t well-made to begin with.
When a dental bridge is poorly constructed, it’s almost sure to fail early. Such a prosthetic uses low-quality materials – the kind that can’t endure the force from chewing. (It also tends to fit poorly.) As a result, the bridge will break sooner than it should and fail to restore your smile.
How to Care for Your Dental Bridge
All in all, you can do several things to care for your dental bridge. These are:
- Practice Good Oral Hygiene – To keep the teeth supporting your dental bridge strong, remember to brush twice daily and floss once daily.
- Avoid Bad Habits – Quitting your bad oral habits will reduce pressure on your dental bridge.
- See Your Dentist Often – Through frequent dental checkups, your dentist can identify and address threats to your dental bridge early.
For more details on what makes a dental bridge fail, see your dental provider. They’ll gladly offer up relevant facts for you!
About the Practice
Caring Smiles Dental is based in Beaverton, OR. Led by Dr. Brooke Appelhans, our practice offers top-tier comprehensive dentistry from a dedicated team. Whether your smile needs preventive, cosmetic, or even restorative care, our team is ready and able to help. Our office can even provide dental sedation to make your appointment calmer and more relaxing. For more details or to book a visit, please contact us on our website or by phone at (503)-430-5096.