Dental bridges consist of one or more false teeth which are anchored onto your neighbouring natural teeth. They may be made of gold, porcelain or a combination of the two; they are not removable.
The most commonly used is a traditional fixed bridge: this is a false tooth, usually made of porcelain or ceramic, fused to two dental crowns that are fitted to the teeth on either side of the gap.
A resin-bonded bridge or 'Maryland bridge' is used when the gap to be filled is in between the front teeth and therefore highly visible, or where the teeth on either side of the gap are strong and healthy and the dentist is reluctant to remove large portions of them to fit dental crowns. The false tooth is fused to a metal 'wing' that is bonded to the back of the adjacent tooth using resin that is hidden from view.
A cantilever bridge is used when there are teeth present on only one side of the gap and the false tooth is anchored to one or more adjacent teeth on one side only.
