{"id":991,"date":"2019-05-30T17:12:41","date_gmt":"2019-05-30T21:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/?p=991"},"modified":"2019-05-30T17:12:41","modified_gmt":"2019-05-30T21:12:41","slug":"choosing-dental-implant-vs-bridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/choosing-dental-implant-vs-bridge\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Keys to Choosing a Dental Implant or a Bridge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The root canal that I received this past March didn\u2019t work. My dentist did a second root canal last month, but she could not save the tooth. She extracted it. The tooth is a right lateral incisor, so I have a tooth missing in the front of my mouth. It&#8217;s there for everyone to see. I&#8217;m debating on whether or not to get a dental implant or a bridge. An implant costs so much, but my dentist said it could last for the rest of my life. And then I&#8217;m not sure if my dentist knows how to handle complex cases. She is young, and this is only her fourth year in practice. I&#8217;m four hours away from Dr. Szarek&#8217;s office. Otherwise, I would come there. Can you give me some things to consider before I say and make a commitment to the wrong dentist? Thanks. Teresa<\/p>\n<p>Teresa \u2013 Below are a few things to consider.<\/p>\n<h2>Dental Implants<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Surgery<\/strong> \u2013 Minimally invasive surgery is required to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/dental-implants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">place implant fixtures in your jawbone<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Healing time<\/strong> \u2013 It takes several weeks for the implant to fuse to your jawbone.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Effect on adjacent teeth<\/strong> \u2013 No work is required on your adjacent teeth.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cost<\/strong> \u2013 Dental implants cost more than other forms of tooth replacement, including a dental bridge.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Long-term results<\/strong> \u2013 Depending on your age, implants can last a lifetime.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Effectiveness<\/strong> \u2013 They look and feel like your natural teeth.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bone shrinkage<\/strong> \u2013 Implant fixtures stimulate the jawbone and prevent shrinkage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_962\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-962\" class=\"size-full wp-image-962\" src=\"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/dental-implants-massachusetts-nh.jpg\" alt=\"Diagram of dental implant phases, including 1) implant insertion in bone, 2) healing process, 3) abutment attachment, 4) crown attachment.\" width=\"600\" height=\"258\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/dental-implants-massachusetts-nh.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/dental-implants-massachusetts-nh-300x129.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-962\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dental implant phases<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Dental Bridge<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Surgery<\/strong> \u2013 No surgery is required to place a dental bridge.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Healing time<\/strong> \u2013 There is no healing time, so your dentist can place the implant right away.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Effect on adjacent teeth<\/strong> \u2013 Your dentist will shave down the tooth on either side of the missing. The adjacent teeth will serve as anchors for the bridge, and a dental crown will be placed over each of them.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cost<\/strong> \u2013 A bridge doesn\u2019t cost as much as a dental implant. In some cases, a dental implant can cost twice as much.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Long-term results<\/strong> \u2013 A dental bridge can last 10 to 20 years.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Effectiveness<\/strong> \u2013 Dental crowns can be made to look like your natural teeth, but a bridge won\u2019t feel as natural as a dental implant.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bone shrinkage<\/strong> \u2013 A dental crown is suspended in the middle of the bridge to replace the missing tooth. But since there is no implant fixture to stimulate the bone, the beneath the crown will gradually shrink.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Whether you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/implant-vs-bridge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">choose a dental implant or a bridge<\/a>, find an experienced implant dentist who is also a cosmetic dentist. You will receive a quality dental implant that looks natural.<\/p>\n<p>This blog is sponsored by Michael Szarek, DMD of Lowell, MA. Dr. Szarek is an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">implant dentist and an accredited cosmetic dentist.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The root canal that I received this past March didn\u2019t work. My dentist did a second root canal last month, but she could not save the tooth. She extracted it. The tooth is a right lateral incisor, so I have a tooth missing in the front of my mouth. It&#8217;s there for everyone to see. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[700,712,713,714,286],"class_list":{"0":"post-991","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-dental-implants","7":"tag-chelmsford-ma-dental-implants","8":"tag-dental-implant-or-bridge","9":"tag-how-long-do-dental-implants-last","10":"tag-how-long-does-a-dental-bridge-last","11":"tag-lowell-ma-dental-implants","12":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>7 Keys to Choosing a Dental Implant or a Bridge | Michael Szarek, DMD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How do you know whether to choose a dental implant or a bridge?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/choosing-dental-implant-vs-bridge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"7 Keys to Choosing a Dental Implant or a Bridge | Michael Szarek, DMD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How do you know whether to choose a dental implant or a bridge?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/choosing-dental-implant-vs-bridge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lowell Cosmetic Dentistry Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-30T21:12:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/dental-implants-massachusetts-nh.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"AllSmiles\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"AllSmiles\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"7 Keys to Choosing a Dental Implant or a Bridge | Michael Szarek, DMD","description":"How do you know whether to choose a dental implant or a bridge?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/choosing-dental-implant-vs-bridge\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"7 Keys to Choosing a Dental Implant or a Bridge | Michael Szarek, DMD","og_description":"How do you know whether to choose a dental implant or a bridge?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/choosing-dental-implant-vs-bridge\/","og_site_name":"Lowell Cosmetic Dentistry Blog","article_published_time":"2019-05-30T21:12:41+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/dental-implants-massachusetts-nh.jpg"}],"author":"AllSmiles","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"AllSmiles","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/choosing-dental-implant-vs-bridge\/","url":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/choosing-dental-implant-vs-bridge\/","name":"7 Keys to Choosing a Dental Implant or a Bridge | Michael Szarek, DMD","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-05-30T21:12:41+00:00","dateModified":"2019-05-30T21:12:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8d711457dbe058686ca50a64f3091c35"},"description":"How do you know whether to choose a dental implant or a bridge?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/choosing-dental-implant-vs-bridge\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/choosing-dental-implant-vs-bridge\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/choosing-dental-implant-vs-bridge\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"7 Keys to Choosing a Dental Implant or a Bridge"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/","name":"Lowell Cosmetic Dentistry Blog","description":"Your cosmetic dentistry questions answered","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8d711457dbe058686ca50a64f3091c35","name":"AllSmiles","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4871feb8d40502b614db766f8d98ebe87cf929ac5d4f943528110b3f2d298e54?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4871feb8d40502b614db766f8d98ebe87cf929ac5d4f943528110b3f2d298e54?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"AllSmiles"},"url":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/author\/allsmiles\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=991"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":996,"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991\/revisions\/996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drszarek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}