Why do dentists prefer not to grind down perfectly good teeth to replace a missing tooth with a bridge?
Until dental implants were developed, tooth-supported bridges were the preferred treatment for tooth replacement. Bridges are far superior to removable partial dentures, which accelerate bone resorption and weaken the adjacent tooth they hook onto, but they still have significant problems. Basically, a bridge consists of two or more crowns with one or more false teeth fused together. The crowns on either end of the bridge are cemented onto teeth that serve as bridge abutments. The false tooth or teeth between these crowns replaces the tooth or teeth that are missing. In order to cement the bridge into place, the teeth that support either end of the bridge must be ground down to pegs so that the crowns fit over them. In other words, a good deal of healthy, natural tooth structure has to be removed to allow the bridge to fit properly. Most dentists do not like to damage perfectly good teeth when there are other alternatives for treatment.
