Not every patient planning to replace a missing tooth will want a dental implant. Implants require surgery, and you may not be willing or able to undergo the necessary treatment. Of course, implants are not the only replacement option for an absent permanent tooth. A dental bridge is a less invasive option that can restore the function of your bite. But a dental bridge needs support and that support may come from an abutment.

Dental Abutments

The word abutment is often used in relation to large-scale engineering projects. It's a masonry mass (stonework or brickwork) used to support a structure, such as a bridge. A dental abutment is required to support a dental bridge.

Permanent Prosthesis

A fixed dental bridge is a permanent prosthesis and may be used to replace a single missing tooth or adjoining missing teeth. The prosthetic teeth are generally made of porcelain, color-matched to your natural teeth. Dental bridges are planned and constructed for individual patients, so designs will vary. 

Pontic and Abutments

A typical fixed dental bridge contains a pontic (false tooth) suspended between two abutment crowns. A bridge like this would resemble three connected teeth. The abutments are in fact dental crowns, designed to fit over the teeth at both ends of the gap in your smile. It's not practical to use a tooth's natural structure as an abutment for a pontic. This would cause rapid deterioration of the tooth's surface enamel, and the force of your bite may cause uncrowned abutment teeth to tilt, and even loosen. Crowns absorb and evenly distribute the bite forces experienced by the prosthesis, keeping these forces sufficiently isolated from the natural tooth structures beneath the crowns.

Parallel Installation

When a bridge is fixed, its abutment crowns must be parallel to each other, which is necessary to evenly distribute the bite pressure that the dental prosthesis will experience. This entails the preparation of the teeth, during which a thin layer of their surface enamel will be removed. The overall visible mass (height and circumference) of the teeth will be reduced. A porcelain restoration fitted over a tooth must not exceed the physical mass of the unaltered tooth.

Single Unit

Once your abutment teeth are prepared, the dental bridge and its abutment crowns can be manufactured. This is typically outsourced to a specialist facility, and your crowns will be fabricated in an abutment laboratory. The completed bridge must be cemented onto your abutment teeth as a single unit. 

A dental bridge must withstand a significant degree of occlusal (bite) forces, and the design, construction, and installation of the pontic and its abutments is an extremely precise project. 

For more information, contact a local dental lab. 

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