Tooth Preparation
As with preparations for single-unit crowns, the preparations for multiple-unit bridges must also possess proper taper to facilitate the insertion of the prosthesis onto the teeth. However, there is an added dimension when it comes to bridges, because the bridge must be able to fit onto the abutment teeth simultaneously. Thus, the taper of the abutment teeth must match, to properly seat the bridge. This is known as requiring parallelism among the abutments.
When this is not possible, due to severe tipping of one of more of the abutments, for example, an attachment may be useful, as in the photo at right, so that one of the abutments may be cemented first, and the other abutment, attached to the pontic, can then be inserted, with an arm on the pontic slipping into a groove on the cemented crown to achieve a span across the edentulous area.
Read more about this topic: Bridge (dentistry)
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