Dental bridge query - any dentists out there??

[Lou197]

My daughter lost a front tooth in an accident - had to have the whole tooth removed. At 18 she is too young for an implant so has had a bridge fitted which I hope will be in place for a few years while we save up for an implant!

The bridge has been fitted but now the colour of the tooth it has been fitted to now looks very grey - is this normal?

There was loads of discussion about getting the colour right for the bridge and now it looks like she has a dead tooth on what was a healthy tooth!

Any advice very welcome - thanks

So it’s the natural tooth that looks grey? That makes me think they’ve made the bridge tooth colour wrong and also that the natural tooth may have been injured in the accident and have died. I guess the first thing would be to ask the dentist. You need the bridge to match the natural teeth though.

I am not a dentist, should I have said!

Perfectly normal I’m afraid. It sounds like she has a resin retained bridge. The wing attachment on the back of the tooth, because it is metal can make the tooth look grey.

Another dentist here, and as Robin has said ,it's perfectly normal because it's metal wing of the Maryland bridge showing through the retaining (healthy) tooth. It's the best, most conservative option until your DD can have an implant. Other conservative option would been to have a partial denture replacing the missing tooth; patients usually prefer what your DD has had.

Also, to add further, your DD definitely doesn't want the other type of (traditional) bridgework which involves cutting down adjacent healthy teeth; possibly better aesthetically but maintenance and possibility of long term complications, are a big consideration. Your DD needs to think of her adhesive bridge as a space maintainer.

Many many thanks. So when the bridge is removed the tooth will go back to it's normal colour?? Also how is a bridge removed? Does it damage the tooth it is attached too? Sorry but as DD is now 18 I was not party to all the conversations with the dentist - thanks for your advice...

Yes, it's the metal retaining wing that's giving the grey hue through the healthy tooth, so when the adhesive bridge is eventually drilled off, all will return to how it was originally.

No it doesn't damage the tooth it's bonded too, that's the beauty of these of these type of bridges. Although, the original trauma that caused the loss of the other tooth may cause problems, the adjacent teeth to the traumatised tooth can seem to have got off Scot free at first. So bear that in mind. There doesn't have to be any visible damage to a tooth, fracture etc for the pulp (nerve) to be set on a path towards loss of it's vitality.