I have dental implants on two back teeth, however, they do have what used to be a healthy tooth between them. Now that tooth has to be removed. I am wondering if there is a possibility that I could just put a Maryland Bridge between the two implant teeth as a means of saving money and avoiding yet another surgery?
Anthony
Dear Anthony,
Maryland Bridge
While, technically, you can attach a Maryland Bridge to the back of dental crowns, there are challenges with that. Plus, you have a far greater chance of it failing. The wings of a Maryland Bridge will bond far more securely to natural tooth structure than it would to porcelain.
Additionally, you can’t just bond this type of bridge on. Instead, there will need to be grooves prepared into the teeth in order to help deal with the forces it will encounter when you use your teeth. Even then, it’s a risk simply because bonding to porcelain is inherently weaker. There is also that problem with very few dentists know how to bond directly to porcelain.
Ideally, knowing you have lost two teeth there already, it would have been best if your dentist had planned ahead for the possibility that you may lose the tooth between the two implants. If he did that, he’d have placed the dental implants so that their abutments would be parallel to one another. In that case, your dentist could have simply removed the implant crowns and then simply added a dental bridge. It’s possible your dentist did do that, so I would check. If not, then your best solution is to get a third implant placed there.
In the meantime, while you figure out what to do, you will need a temporary tooth replacement. I would recommend a dental flipper for that. It does not cost nearly as much as anything else and is completely temporary.
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