Permanent bridges are not permanent!

Joined
Oct 24, 2011
Messages
16
No matter what your dentist tells you, permanent bridges are most certainly NOT permanent. I have been through two of them and I would never recommend anyone to get one of those horrible things. All a bridge does is trade in one set of dental problems for an even greater set of dental problems later on. If you get 10 years out of your bridge it is a small miracle and after that bridge fails if your roots are strong enough to handle another one afterwards it is an even greater miracle. After that you are looking at a denture. Fixed bridges make absolutely no sense. Destroying good teeth to fill spaces is an extremely risky proposition to begin with, but what your dentist won't tell you is the myriad of problems that can occur:

1. if you damage one of the crowns you most likely must replace the entire bridge
2. if you get a cavity under the bridge you are positively screwed
3. bridges place a tremendous amount of stress on your roots and greatly increase the likelihood of one of your other teeth failing
4. bridges are terribly painful and expensive to replace
5. upper bridges grind down teeth below them like a soap stone
6. when your bridge fails (and it WILL fail eventually), your only real option will be extraction of your remaining roots and a partial denture.

KEEP YOUR NATURAL TEETH ALWAYS! Bridges do nothing but trade small dental problems for big ones later on. If you have one space your trying to fix, when you do a 3 crown bridge you will soon have 3 spaces to worry about instead of only one. JUST SAY NO TO FIXED BRIDGES! THEY ARE A WASTE OF TIME AND ALL THEY DO IS PUT MORE MONEY IN THE POCKETS OF CROOKED DENTISTS!
 
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Joined
Sep 4, 2011
Messages
17
The most highly recommended replacement method is implants. The success rates are very, very high and they can last longer and are sometimes easier to take care of than bridges. They keep the place of the tooth in the old socket and prevent further bone loss. The downsides are they're expensive and your gums will take time to heal. There's also the chance of rejection if you have a bone graft. Obviously not everyone is a candidate.

Tooth Replacement with Dental Implants

Dental Implants | AAOMS.org

Bone loss is going to occur with bridges and partials. Neither option is perfect and each have their own trade-offs. It's an inevitable fact and you will end up losing more and more remaining teeth as the bone loss continues. The primary reason for bridge failure is poor hygiene which needs to be taken care of and decay between the bridge and supporting teeth which makes it imperative to visit a dentist regularly for cleanings and checkups. Pressure the bridge causes on the joining teeth can also cause them to crack. This can be compounded by periodontal disease, diabetes, and other disease.


Dental Bridge Multiple Teeth Replacements Single Tooth Bridgework Pros and Cons Ask The Dentist
Bridgework has been known to fail in 2-3 years ... but has also been known to last 25 years and more.
Bridgework Failure Chicago IL Dental Bridge Repair Replacement Fixing Bad Bridges Teeth Replacement Illinois
It is not uncommon for bridgework to last up to 30 years or more. Unfortunately, failure can occur in as little as 1 month. Insurance companies typically "expect" average bridgework to endure about 5 years, which is reflected in most dental insurance programs.
I haven't seen any information from dentists leading anyone to believe that a bridge will last a lifetime. Permanent bridge only means it is permanently bonded to your teeth.


Removable partial dentures would be my last option as they have been shown to either increase tooth loss greater than a fixed bridge or at least didn't help the survival rate of remaining teeth like fixed bridges have been shown to do.

Survival Rates of Teeth Adjacent to Treated and Untreated Posterior Bounded Edentulous Spaces

Treatment with a removable partial denture did not increase the likelihood of adjacent tooth survival, while treatment with a fixed partial denture did result in modestly improved survival of adjacent teeth.
Research Shows That Not Replacing a Missing Tooth Increases Risk of Losing More Teeth

We can see that if a missing tooth is not replaced the loss of adjacent teeth ranges from 12%-19%. Tooth supported bridges improve survival with tooth loss from 7%-10%. Removable partial dentures increase abutment tooth loss from 17% to 30% at 4-7 years.
I would be interested in seeing any information that would contradict this and indicate that partial dentures will result in a higher percentage of tooth survival over a fixed bridge.
 
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Joined
Oct 24, 2011
Messages
16
The most highly recommended replacement method is implants. The success rates are very, very high and they can last longer and are sometimes easier to take care of than bridges. They keep the place of the tooth in the old socket and prevent further bone loss. The downsides are they're expensive and your gums will take time to heal. Obviously, not everyone is a candidate.

You have got to be kidding me. So you seriously think the only downsides to implants are the price and it takes awhile for your gums to heal??? Implants fail quite frequently due to bone issues but thats something you'll rarely hear from an American dentist. This sounds like an industry sponsored "study and I would be extremely skeptical of any studies that claim fixed bridges save your other teeth. I don't see how that is possible when you must destroy natural teeth to be fitted for them in the first place. As far as remaining teeth are concerned, the exact opposite happened in my case and several other people I know because bridges place stress on your roots and eventually cause them to fail as mine did.

Tooth Replacement with Dental Implants

Dental Implants | AAOMS.org

Bone loss is going to occur with bridges and partials. Neither option is perfect and each have their own trade-offs. It's an inevitable fact and you will end up losing more and more remaining teeth as the bone loss continues. The primary reason for bridge failure is poor hygiene which needs to be taken care of and decay between the bridge and supporting teeth which makes it imperative to visit a dentist regularly for cleanings and checkups. Pressure the bridge causes on the joining teeth can also cause them to crack. This can be compounded by periodontal disease, diabetes, and other disease.


Dental Bridge Multiple Teeth Replacements Single Tooth Bridgework Pros and Cons Ask The Dentist
Bridgework Failure Chicago IL Dental Bridge Repair Replacement Fixing Bad Bridges Teeth Replacement Illinois
I haven't seen any information from dentists leading anyone to believe that a bridge will last a lifetime. Permanent bridge only means it is permanently bonded to your teeth.

This should be obvious, but what you find dentists saying from an online study and what they tell their patients in their office are rarely the same. My dentist told me my bridge would last a lifetime. My mother's dentist also told her the same thing and my friend also heard this from his dentist.


Removable partial dentures would be my last option as they have been shown to either increase tooth loss greater than a fixed bridge or at least didn't help the survival rate of remaining teeth like fixed bridges have been shown to do.

Please explain to me how destroying your natural teeth for a fixed bridge somehow results in less tooth loss than a partial denture that fills in spaces and requires no teeth to be destroyed. If saving your existing teeth is your priority, then why in the name of god would you choose a bridge that requires you to destroy good teeth over a partial that doesn't destroy any?

Survival Rates of Teeth Adjacent to Treated and Untreated Posterior Bounded Edentulous Spaces

Research Shows That Not Replacing a Missing Tooth Increases Risk of Losing More Teeth

I would be interested in seeing any information that would contradict this and indicate that partial dentures will result in a higher percentage of tooth survival over a fixed bridge.

My own personal experience contradicts that and what part of PARTIAL DENTURES DON'T REQUIRE YOU TO DESTROY YOUR NATURAL TEETH are you not comprehending? The difference is with a partial you're not out your OTHER teeth as well. If I had gone with a partial as a child I would only be worrying about 2 or under worse case scenario maybe 4 missing teeth right now instead of the SIX missing teeth I am currently dealing with.

Do you think its just a coincidence that these industry sponsored studies all show the most expensive treatments (bridges and implants) supposedly save your remaining teeth the most? How absurd is this comment?

“Many times consumers will choose to replace a missing tooth with a removable partial denture because it is the least expensive option. In the long run however, removable partial dentures may be more costly due the loss of adjacent teeth and the need for future replacements."

You notice he never mentions anything about the destroyed teeth under a fixed bridge. So those teeth don't need replacing? I guess walking around with nubs where your tooth used to be is perfectly okay as long as there's a root attached. yeesh.

You can cut and paste links off the web until the end of time but I will continue to trust my own personal experience and the experiences of others. Destroying your natural teeth to fill spaces is a bad idea any way you slice it.
 
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The abutment teeth aren't automatically "destroyed." Even if the bridge has to be removed and the "nubs" capped, you are still better off than losing those teeth leading to further bone loss. Will the capped teeth need to be pulled eventually? Maybe, probably, who knows but the studies suggest those teeth will last longer being ground down for a bridge than even being left alone with a partial.

Issues with abutment teeth under a bridge SHOULD be able to be detected with regular checkups. Whether someone doesn't do that or they just have a bad dentist like you is something no one can control but the patient. That's why the life of bridges are often lower than even I realized but you know what? I know how well I took care of my first bridge and I know I will continue to do that and I can EXPECT a life of 5-10 years if not longer. And my abutment teeth were not ruined with my first bridge and I don't expect them to be ruined by this bridge. I've seen no evidence to suggest that all second bridges will last less time than the first as you claim either.

That is my own personal experience just like yours. Neither one of us are experts but at least I sought research to find info instead of relying only on my personal experiences to hopefully give someone less biased advice than you. If you can find a study to suggest partials make teeth last longer and lead to less bone loss than bridges that would be OK too because I would really like to know.
 
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