Hi, my name is Dr Fong, I’m the principal dentist of Dental House Group. Yesterday one of our new patients Courtney from Sunbury asked me, should I replace my missing tooth with a bridge or a dental implant. Which is better? I thought this is one of the most common questions we get, so let’s make a short video so I can share with you what I shared with her.

First of all, let’s look at a dental implant.

So a dental implant is a titanium screw that is placed inside your jaw bone with a porcelain tooth inserted on top.

It’s great for replacing a chewing tooth, because implants are strong, and help share the load during chewing. It is also easy to maintain and clean.

Now, if you have multiple missing teeth, you need a lot of extra support so dental implants are generally better than a long bridge.

So even though dental implants are great, they’re not always the best option to replace missing teeth. Take this for example, if you’re missing a small tooth, and there’s no room for a dental implant, then a porcelain bridge would actually be the ideal treatment option.

Also, if you are in your teens or early 20s, it may be a good idea to delay placing dental implants until your bone matures. Implants don’t behave like teeth and if they are placed in young adults, things may become slightly complicated when you get older. So you should always ask your dentist, am I suitable for dental implants?

Let’s look at another situation, let’s just say you are suitable for dental implants but your teeth next door that have old fillings or crowns. It may be more cost and time effective to replace the missing tooth with a porcelain bridge since the adjacent teeth need porcelain crowns anyway.

Your general health and medical condition also plays an important role in determining what the best option is when it comes to replacing missing teeth. If you smoke, and you don’t have the intention of quitting, then 1 in 4 implants generally won’t work, so a porcelain bridge might be a better option for you.

So as you can see, choosing the best treatment option is multifactorial…

If you are not sure what is best for you, and want professional advice, as a Master Clinician in Implantology, we would love to help. Simply complete the form on the website, give us a call, or send us a direct message on social media, and we will help you organise an appointment. See you in the next video.

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