One missing tooth: implant, bridge or nothing at all?
Leaving a gap is a decision too, and it costs bone, bite stability and often two more teeth within a decade.
What happens to a gap over ten years
The bone that held the root resorbs because nothing stimulates it. The opposing tooth over-erupts into the space, and the neighbours tilt. Ten years later the bite has changed, food traps between tilted teeth, and the case that needed one implant now needs three units of restoration.
The bridge trade-off
A three-unit bridge is faster and cheaper up front, but it requires grinding down two healthy neighbouring teeth to stumps. Those teeth then carry double load and are at higher risk of needing root treatment later. It is the right answer when the neighbours are already crowned, and the wrong one when they are pristine.
Why an implant is usually the biological choice
An implant loads the bone directly, preserves it, and leaves the neighbours untouched. Placement takes under an hour and the implant is completed with a zirconium crown.
When doing nothing is defensible
A missing wisdom tooth or a lower second molar with no opposing tooth may not need replacing. That is a clinical judgement made on your X-ray, not a rule to apply to a front tooth.
The Ones People Actually Ask.
Is it too late if I lost the tooth years ago?
Usually not, but bone may have resorbed. A CT scan tells us whether a graft is needed alongside the implant.
More On Dental.
A jaw keeps only the bone it is asked to use. Most ridge width disappears in the first year after an extraction, and…
Choosing a tooth shade that still looks right in daylightShades are chosen under daylight beside a window, never under the operating lamp, the same ceramic can look correct…
Cracked tooth or deep cavity? How the pain tells youDecay reacts to sweet and cold and the ache lingers; a crack stabs for a split second when you release the bite, and…
Can real dental work be done in three days?Some of it, yes, and some of it absolutely should not be. Knowing the difference protects you from the clinics that…
What Stands Behind The Plan.
