A tooth can fall out for many reasons; tooth decay, genetics, gum disease or it may have been knocked out by an accident! It can completely change your smile and negatively impact your confidence if it’s one of your front teeth. Did you know it can also change the alignment of your other teeth?
We have a few different options to fill the gap so that you can get back to smiling!
Dental Implants
Dental Implants are one of the most common methods to replace a missing tooth as they are reliable and look and feel like a real tooth. An implant can replace either a single tooth or multiple teeth if necessary and if you look after them, they can last you a lifetime.
Benefits of Dental implants:
- Permanent solution
- Conservative on your other teeth, no need to touch your other teeth
- Can look and feel just like your other teeth
- Can replace single or multiple teeth
Cons of Dental Implants
- It can be quite costly if you have multiple missing teeth, a single dental implant starts from £1899
- The treatment process has progressed a lot over the years but it can still be quite invasive and is classed as a surgical procedure, this requires a significant healing time
Bridge
A bridge can be a great option for a missing tooth as it doesn’t require any surgical procedures and can be conservative to the remaining teeth. There a couple different types of bridges; traditional which uses the two teeth next to the missing one to place a false tooth off, cantilever which uses just one tooth next to the missing tooth to place a false tooth and Maryland which places a ‘metal wing’ off the false tooth which is cemented to the teeth either side of the missing tooth.
Benefits of bridges
- No surgery needed
- Minimal recovery time as no surgery
- Permanent solution
- Looks and feels just like a normal tooth
- Cheaper than an implant, a bridge starts from £660
Cons of Bridges
- Adjacent teeth need to be filed down to fit a crown on which is what the false tooth is attached too
- If you aren’t thorough with your oral hygiene, it can lead to greater risk of infection as food can get underneath the bridge
Partial Denture
Partial dentures are a removable option for a missing tooth. It’s a simple solution if you have only 1 or 2 missing teeth but not recommended for a lot of missing teeth.
Benefits of a partial denture
- The cheapest option, dentures start from around £200
- Easy to repair and replace if needed
- Treatment process is very simple, no surgery needed so no recovery time
- Can look like a normal tooth
Cons of denture
- Can be uncomfortable, affecting your speech and taste
- Need to be removed and cleaned daily
- Can’t be slept in, you need to remove them before bedtime
