Can a Maryland Bridge Be Bonded to a Porcelain Crown?
Posted by Annmarie SanSevero
I have two dental implants with a natural tooth between them. Now that tooth needs to be replaced. Is it possible for me to just get a Maryland bridge and attach the wings to the porcelain crowns?
Everett
Dear Everett,
While you can technically bond a Maryland Bridge onto your teeth, it is a risk. The best bond is to natural tooth structure, which you no longer have there. Plus, for a Maryland Bridge to stay in place, your dentist will need to put grooves into the crowns to aid with the retention of a bridge. This is to help it resist the chewing forces that it will undergo. Without that, the bridge will pop out.
As I mentioned earlier, it is harder to bond to porcelain, which is not as strong as tooth enamel. It takes a special technique that most dentists are unfamiliar with. The grooves needed on the porcelain crowns could end up going all the way through to the metal, which is even harder to bond to.
The ideal solution would have been for your dentist to anticipate that the tooth between the two dental implants may eventually need to be replaced. Knowing that, he could have placed the abutments for the dental implants parallel and used screw on crowns, so that they could be easily removed and a dental bridge put in its place. Your dentist may have done that, so I would ask. Another option would be to place a third dental implant between the other two if there is room.
This blog is brought to you by an AACD accredited dentist in Franklin, TN Dr. Christopher Weber.
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