Rick,
What ginnie has is called a nesbit. This is a very small appliance that resembles teeth on an acrylic base and it replaces one to two teeth that are next to each other. You need to have "anchor teeth" on each side of the space to hold the nesbit in place. This appliance is easily removed just like a denture. It is not recommended that you eat with this because it is so small that you could swallow it. And it is not meant to stay in when you sleep, again because it can be swallowed. You may be a candidate for a nesbit if you are just going to replace tooth #3. Some dentists do not recommend these because they are small and can be a choking hazard. Others make them all the time and their patients love them! I've known many patients who do really well with them!
A removable bridge is very different than a nesbit. The bridge is fabricated to fit over existing teeth to make the teeth look better esthetically. This appliance is removable to clean. Your case does not warrant this type of appliance.
A removable partial denture is basically a larger nesbit. It can replace missing teeth on one or both sides of the arch at the same time. Here is a link with good pictures ...
http://doctorspiller.com/partial_dentures.htm
Hope this helps!
Bryanna
Quote:
Originally Posted by spork
Thanks very much for that. I'm not familiar with the concept of a removable bridge. Do they not have to grind down the neighboring teeth to accommodate it? What holds it in?
Thanks.
ETA: a Google search turns this up: http://denturesolutions.org/removable_bridge_work Is this what you're talking about? It looks like it covers all the teeth - not just the missing one and its neighbors. Is that right?
Thanks again. |