Single wing sticky bridge attached behind front left tooth. Because it's made the front tooth fatter, bottom teeth are hitting the back plate...

[Jamesx9000]

Hi would appreciate some advice as I feel very alone. Basically after this sticky bridge I can't shut my mouth as completely as I used to be able to and it means that when I chew food I can't quite close the upper and lower rear teeth. I'm more massaging a ball of food in my mouth with the teeth not touching. I can just about get by but it's not very pleasant.

I'm told by my dentist but my mouth will adjust and I will get used to it. It'mouthn about 4 days but I don't see how this can be. There's no physical way I can get my rear teeth to close. It's not very pleasant because I'm struggling to eat certain foods, anything with a tough skin I can't chew properly. I can't seem to find any information on Google or AI about the problem I'm having. I've had two different dentists tell me that my mouth will adjust. But I never realised how miserable it was going to be. I love my food and I love cooking. I don't think anyone pointed out to me by the way you won't be able to chew your food properly.

 

[Dr M]

Did the dentist try and adjust the lower teeth a bit? It seems like your occlusion needs to be adjusted. If you only bite on your front teeth, you might end up breaking the bridge as well.

 

[Jamesx9000]

Did the dentist try and adjust the lower teeth a bit? It seems like your occlusion needs to be adjusted. If you only bite on your front teeth, you might end up breaking the bridge as well.

Thank you very much for your reply I really appreciate it. I to share the concern about my bit directly going into the back of the bridge from an engineering standpoint. I initially rejected the idea of a bridge of this design because it was going to be titanium but I was offer the option of Zarconia Which I understand is harder. My previous concern was about ingesting titanium. I appreciate it's a wonderful substance but I don't fancy grinding into it.

Just to be clear I haven't had the bridge put in yet but they've taken off 0.7 mm of enamel of the back of the front tooth and have applied composite to cover it and also mimic the end fatness of the bridge.

I'm seriously in two minds whether to cancel the whole thing and just get them to grind back the composite so things are roughly similar to how they were before I started the whole thing.

Is shortening the lower teeth slightly good idea? It all feels very traumatic.

I just feel in the dark. Will my teeth automatically adjust as I continually attempt to close my back teeth? The dentist never seem to have time to answer questions.

Thanks again for your thoughts I really appreciate it.

 

[Dr M]

We sometimes adjust a lower opposing tooth, but this is done very minimally and usually does not cause any lasting damage. Why did you opt out of a 3 unit bridge if I may ask? Do you have any recent x-rays that you could share?

 

[Jamesx9000]

Hi Dr M, thank you very much for your reply greatly appreciated. An answer to your question this is what I've been told. I have an 8mm gap weather tooth that should be next to my front tooth should be. I was born without an adult tooth there. The next tooth on the other side is a canine. I've added some photos for your mild interest.

I don't have access to my x-rays at the moment.
But I hope these pictures show in various order. The main issues. There is no bridge in place but the dentist has ground away 0.7 mm from the back of the front tooth and added on a backing to match the thickness of the sticky bridge when it is installed.

The main issue is that I can't get my back teeth to touch to chew. Because when I bite down the first contact was always behind the front teeth and now the front teeth are thicker it's preventing me shutting my jaw fully. The photos show the gap in the back teeth when my mouth is as shut as I can do.

as a patient I feel very much alone and in the dark. Consulting Google has not been helpful about this issue.

I actually really don't like the inability to chew fully. I just had some canned mackerel but I feel I'm massaging it for ages In my mouth before it becomes ok to swallow. On the plus side I've lost a little weight

 

[Dr M]

I would again recommend adjusting the lower teeth in order to see if your back teeth make contact. If you still have this issue or if adjustments of the lower teeth are not an option, then either some orthodontics is required before the bridge is placed, or you need to consider an implant option, if the aesthetic outcome allows for it.
Based on the photos, I think you would have benefitted from some ortho before the bridge was planned.