What are the alternatives ?
While you may decide not to replace your missing tooth or teeth you should be aware that missing teeth may reduce chewing function and affect the appearance of your smile. Adjacent and opposing teeth may move towards the space, a reduced number of teeth may result in increased pressure on your remaining teeth.
A denture is not permanently fixed in position and some people find a denture difficult to tolerate because it may become loose during eating or speaking. A denture may offer a very useful temporary or emergency replacement for a tooth.
A bridge is fixed to adjacent teeth and depends on those teeth for support. An adhesive bridge: this involves fixing a false tooth to adjacent teeth using a resin. It may de-bond. A conventional bridge: adjacent teeth are reduced in size and crowned and a false tooth is fixed to the crowns. Though stronger, this option involves drilling the adjacent teeth and in 12 - 15% of cases a root canal filling is necessary.
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