I have a bridge, but one of the teeth underneath needs to pulled. Can we cut the bridge, pull that tooth, and then reattach the bridge or will I have to have a whole new bridge done?
Wally G.- Alabama
Wally,
Very occasionally that can work, but not often. You would have to talk to your dentist about your particular case. The determining factors are the number of teeth being used to support the dental bridge and how much stress would be placed on the remaining teeth. For instance a four unit bridge has a better chance. With a three unit bridge you would end up with only one supporting tooth. In all likelihood it would put too much stress on the remaining tooth and you may end up losing that tooth as well.
That is one of the advantages of dental implants. If a repair needs to be done to an implant it only affects that tooth, but with a bridge you often have to replace the entire unit.
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