Archive for November, 2009

Replacing a single tooth with a bridge or a dental implant

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Tooth #29 had a root canal and crown; now it is loose and I was told it has broken below the crown and needs to be extracted. The teeth on either side of it are also crowned. I think my choice is to have a t! ooth implant after this tooth is extracted and healed after a bone graft done. Will that be okay even though the teeth on either side are crowns? Thank you for your time.
- Becky from Oregon

Becky,
A dental implant is certainly an excellent option whenever you have a missing tooth.

The main advantage to having a tooth replaced with an implant instead of a dental bridge is that you don’t have to grind down perfectly good adjacent teeth in order to replace the missing tooth. If those teeth need crowns anyway, then it tends to make sense to add the replacement tooth between them. It’s simpler. But if those teeth already have crowns and those crowns are working well, then having the implant avoids having to replace those crowns.

Related link:
Click here for more information about the pros and cons of dental implants.