My daughter has a congenitally missing tooth and we are working to get her a smile she can be proud of. We started with orthodontics to get all the teeth she has in their correct position. Our dentist has been working on a Maryland Bridge as a temporary tooth replacement but we’ve been having some problems with it staying on. She was using the ones with ceramic wings. The reason she did that is because we thought the ceramic would blend in better with her teeth. Because we can’t keep it on, she’s thinking we need to switch to a one with the metal wings.
Here are some things I am wondering. Will metal stick better than the ceramic? Will the metal show? These are some tough years for girls and I don’t want her embarrassed if it can be helped.
Laurie
Dear Laurie,
It sounds like you are working hard to make certain your daughter gets all the care she needs. You are also wise to wait until her jaw has fully developed to get her the dental implant. You mentioned wanting to get her a good temporary replacement.
The problem you are facing with this Maryland Bridge is two-fold. First, your dentist doesn’t know how they work. When the tooth is properly prepared, it will not fall off. One thing she may not realize is that there needs to be a groove in the tooth in order to retain it better.
As you can see from the picture on the left, a groove will be cut into the tooth in order to help retain the wings.
Before I go into the second issue, I wanted to answer your questions. Will the metal bond any better? No. In fact, they will have a weaker bond than the ceramic will. Your second question had to do with appearance. To answer that one, yes, the metal will be more visible than ceramic. Switching from ceramic to metal is not your best solution.
All that being said, I wouldn’t go back to ceramic either. This brings up the second issue. You mentioned wanting a good temporary replacement for her. A Maryland Bridge is not one that I would consider a temporary replacement because it permanently changes the structure of the tooth. Instead, I would get her a dental flipper. It won’t affect her tooth structure and will actually cost you less money to boot.
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