Dental Bridges
A gap from a missing tooth doesn’t just sit there, it’s an open invitation for the teeth around it to drift and your bite to shift. A dental bridge fills that gap with a fixed replacement anchored to the teeth on either side, no removable pieces, no surgery, no months of healing. As part of our Restorative Dentistry services, a bridge is often the fastest way back to a complete smile. Emerald Dental provides dental bridges at both our Lakewood and Littleton offices.
Curious what your smile could look like in six months?
Smile Fact
Enamel is the hardest substance in the human body, yet it cannot repair itself once it is lost.
What Are Dental Bridges
A fixed dental bridge replaces one or more missing teeth by spanning the space where teeth have been lost. The replacement tooth, called a pontic, fills the gap and is supported by the surrounding teeth, which serve as anchors for the restoration. Unlike a removable appliance, a fixed bridge stays in place and can only be removed by a dentist. Whether a bridge is appropriate depends in part on the health and strength of the teeth or other structures supporting it.
How Dental Bridges Work
Consultation and Exam.
You’ll talk through the gap, how it’s affecting your bite or chewing, and get a full exam to confirm your adjacent teeth are healthy enough to anchor a bridge.
First Visit: Preparation.
The two supporting teeth are shaped to hold the crowns, and a digital impression is taken and sent to the lab to build your custom bridge.
Second Visit: Placement.
Your finished bridge is checked for fit, bonded into place, and your bite is adjusted. Most patients need just these two appointments from start to finish.
Benefits of Dental Bridges
A bridge solves the same problem an implant does, a missing tooth, but with fewer steps and a shorter timeline, which is exactly why a lot of patients choose it.
A fixed, permanent replacement, not something you remove at night like a denture
Finished in two visits instead of months
Stops neighboring teeth from drifting into the open space
Restores your bite so chewing and speaking feel normal again
Holds up for a decade or more with normal care
Why Emerald Dental for Dental Bridges
Every bridge at Emerald Dental is built from a digital impression, so the fit is precise the first time instead of requiring repeated adjustments. We’ll walk you through whether a bridge or another option like an implant makes more sense for your specific gap, rather than defaulting to whichever is easier to schedule. Both our Lakewood and Littleton Dentists offer the same standard of care. Meet our doctors on our About Us page.
What Patients Are Saying
Real feedback from real patients across our Lakewood and Littleton offices.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is a bridge different from an implant?
A bridge anchors to the teeth on either side of the gap, while an implant anchors directly into the jawbone with its own titanium post. A bridge is typically faster, done in two visits instead of a multi-month process, but it does rely on the adjacent teeth being healthy enough to support it. An implant tends to make more sense when those adjacent teeth are already healthy and you’d rather not prepare them for crowns.
Is getting a dental bridge painful?
The teeth being prepared are numbed first, so the procedure itself isn’t painful. Some mild sensitivity for a few days afterward is normal and fades as your mouth adjusts to the bridge.
How long do dental bridges last?
With normal brushing, flossing, and checkups, a bridge typically lasts a decade or longer. Keeping the supporting teeth healthy underneath the crowns matters most, since they’re doing the work of holding the bridge in place.
Is it normal to keep chewing around a gap instead of dealing with it?
It’s a common habit, and it usually happens gradually enough that you don’t notice how much it’s changed the way you eat. The longer a gap sits open, the more the teeth around it tend to shift, so it’s worth a look before that becomes the bigger problem.
Can I eat normally with a dental bridge?
Yes, once it’s placed and you’ve adjusted to it, a bridge functions like your natural teeth for chewing and speaking. There’s no removing it to eat or special diet required, which is part of why patients who want a fixed solution choose it over a removable option.
Close the Gap, Keep Your Bite
A missing tooth can change more than your smile, making everyday chewing less comfortable and leaving neighboring teeth without the support they once had. A dental bridge restores that missing piece so your bite can feel complete again. Emerald Dental provides dental bridges at our Lakewood and Littleton offices. Schedule a consultation to find out whether a bridge is the right way to restore your smile.
Find Us
Two Convenient Locations
Both offices are open Monday through Thursday and accept new patients of all ages.
Lakewood
Emerald Dental Lakewood
12093-A West Alameda Pkwy, Lakewood, CO 80228
Littleton
Emerald Dental Littleton
2731 W Belleview Ave, Littleton, CO 80123