Dental Bridges for Kids: When is it Right?

Losing teeth is a natural part of growing up, but when is a good time to consider a dental bridge for a child in Houston?

For every child, there will come a time when their baby teeth fall out and are replaced by a permanent tooth. Is there ever a reason a child would need a dental bridge?

Natural vs Unnatural Tooth Loss

Everyone loses their baby teeth. That is a fact of life. It is a natural process that provides children with an early set of choppers that clear a path for their permanent teeth to follow as they grow and their oral cavity reaches its final size.

Sometimes the loss of a baby tooth can happen because of an accidental trauma or terrible decay, but these instances of unnatural tooth loss are very uncommon.

There is, however, no natural means of permanent tooth loss. You are supposed to keep your permanent adult teeth for the rest of your life, but they too may come out from an accident or due to decay. So when is it appropriate to replace a tooth with a dental bridge, particularly for a child?

Premature Primary Tooth Loss

If a child loses a baby tooth, also called a primary tooth, as a result of an accident or severe decay, a dental bridge can replace it, but is it really necessary if their adult tooth will come in anyway?

Adult (secondary or permanent) teeth come in at certain times. The first ones come in around age 8 while the final ones may not come in until age 23 at the latest (wisdom teeth).

If a primary tooth is lost well before the time when an adult tooth is ready to take its place, the other teeth may shift to try filling in the gap left.

This will make it much harder and more painful for the adult tooth to come in later. For this reason, a dental bridge or possibly a spacer may be necessary to fill in the gap until the adult tooth is ready.

Spacer or Dental Bridge?

Spacers keep the tooth gap present, but provide an abutment for the adjacent teeth. By providing this abutment, the adjacent teeth will not shift toward the gap.

The spacer is certainly a cheaper option than a dental bridge, but it can leave the child feeling like it is more difficult to speak, eat, or drink properly.

Dental bridges restore the function of the original tooth and the appearance of natural teeth (when a porcelain or ceramic tooth is used). They can be more costly, but that added cost does come with added benefits.

Getting a dental bridge is a better option especially if the lost tooth was a permanent tooth. A lost permanent tooth gets no natural replacement, but a dental bridge can take the place of it and look natural.

What to Consider for a Kid’s Dental Bridge

Getting a dental bridge from a kid’s dentist in Houston means you need to consider a few things.

1.    Is the lost tooth a baby tooth or adult tooth? If it was a baby tooth, you may want to use a spacer instead of a dental bridge. They will cost less and the gap will eventually be filled by a natural tooth later on.

2.    How old is the child? If they are still very young, a dental bridge may not be the best option because they are a fixed size. As the child grows, you would need to get a new bridge every few years until their oral cavity has reached its final size.

3.    What tooth was lost? Was the tooth in the front or the back of the mouth? If in the front, a spacer will maintain the gap but can affect speech and eating or drinking. However, eating can be more greatly affected by a loss of a rear tooth.

With the high bite forces the back teeth endure, you may want to consider a dental bridge back there to prevent accidental tissue biting (inside the cheeks) and uneven bites.