Missing Front Tooth

A missing front tooth is something that most patients will become very distressed about. Missing front teeth can cause problems with smiling, speaking, eating and self esteem.

The three categories of treatment fall into 1.Dentures 2.fixed bridges and 3.implants.
Even within the categories, there are subcategories.
1. Dentures can be provided as an immediate denture or delayed after healing.

The denture may be a traditional acrylic denture, cobalt chrome or a flexi- denture.

2. A fixed bridge can be fixed-fixed or as a cantilever. The design may be full
coverage or using an adhesive bridge also known as an acid etch bridge.
3. A dental implant can be an immediate implant or after healing. Furthermore, bone grafting may be needed.

Replacing one missing front tooth is one of the most difficult treatments to get really good results. In particular, achieving the correct shade to match against your remaining adjacent teeth can sometimes be impossible. In addition, a patient with a high smile line presents with additional problems such as the emergence profile.

A missing front tooth can be replaced using several options and each option has to be discussed in terms of merit and relative advantages with disadvantages both short-term and long-term.