The three options, honestly
Every clinic has a preference. What follows is the actual trade-off, including where an implant is the wrong answer.
A dental implant
Replaces the root as well as the crown. Nothing is done to the neighbouring teeth. It keeps the bone stimulated, so the ridge does not shrink the way it does under a gap or a denture. It is the longest lasting of the three.
Against it: months of healing, minor surgery, and it is the most expensive of the three. It also needs enough bone, which may mean bone grafting first.
A bridge
Fixed, so it does not move, and finished in a few weeks rather than months. No surgery.
Against it: the teeth either side have to be cut down to carry it, which is irreversible. Nothing sits in the bone where the root was, so the ridge underneath still shrinks. And when a bridge eventually fails, it takes three teeth with it rather than one.
A denture
The least invasive, the quickest, and by a distance the cheapest. Nothing is cut, nothing is placed in bone. It can replace many teeth at once.
Against it: it moves. It covers part of the palate on an upper jaw, which changes how food tastes. It needs taking out to clean. And as the ridge beneath it shrinks, the fit changes and it needs relining or remaking.
How to actually decide
- One missing tooth, healthy neighbours: an implant is usually the clear answer.
- One missing tooth, neighbours already crowned or heavily filled: a bridge is reasonable, because the cost of cutting them down has already been paid.
- Several missing teeth in one jaw: compare a partial denture with full arch implants.
- Surgery ruled out by health, or cost is the deciding factor: a denture is not a failure. It is the right call for a lot of people.
We will tell you which of these you are at the consultation, and we will say so even when the answer is the one that earns us least.