Measured diagram
How does the false tooth of a Maryland bridge sit against the gum?
A close-up through the false lateral incisor, with a 1 mm scale. Its rounded base rests 1 mm into a shallow hollow of the gum, so it seems to come out of the gum like a natural tooth, and the gum keeps about 2 mm over the bone. Its exact shape depends on the case.
What the drawing is measured from
- The false tooth is the site's measured incisor crown scaled to Wheeler's lateral incisor, 9.0 mm long and 6.0 mm from lip to palate; its base is drawn rounded, 1 mm into the gum, with 2 mm of gum over the bone. The false tooth's shape depends on the case; one rounded design is drawn.
- Cone-beam CT of 219 sites under the false teeth of implant bridges, three years after they were fitted, measured the gum between the false tooth and the bone at 2.32 mm in the upper jaw and 2.20 mm in the lower. Pozzi et al. 2015, Clinical Implant Dentistry and Related Research. DOI
- At 36 false-tooth sites of single-wing zirconia bridges replacing incisors, followed for 4 to more than 10 years, the gum stayed stable and even grew a little at its margin, giving the false tooth an emergence like a natural tooth's. Türp et al. 2025, Journal of Esthetic and Restorative Dentistry. DOI
- A systematic review of 20 studies found that six months after an extraction the ridge had lost 3.79 mm of width and 1.24 mm of height on the cheek side, and 0.84 and 0.80 mm beside the neighbouring teeth, most of it in the first three to six months. Tan et al. 2012, Clinical Oral Implants Research. DOI
- The upper central incisor, lateral incisor and canine follow Wheeler's measurements, crowns 10.5, 9.0 and 10.0 mm long and 8.5, 6.5 and 7.5 mm wide, with their outlines traced from Wheeler's labial and lingual drawings. Nelson, Wheeler's Dental Anatomy, Physiology and Occlusion, 11th edition, Tables 6.1, 6.2 and 8.1, Figures 6.2, 6.3, 6.13, 6.14, 8.2 and 8.3.
Use this diagram
Free to use, including commercially, with credit.
This diagram is published under CC BY 4.0. You may reproduce it in articles, teaching material, presentations and patient information, print or online, without asking. The one condition is that you credit Dr. Khalid Aletaibi and link back to this page.
It is published this way on purpose. The measurement in this drawing is not something the people selling the treatment tend to publish, so it is more useful spread than kept.
Credit line
The false tooth on the gum. Dr. Khalid Aletaibi, CC BY 4.0. https://khalidaletaibi.com/en/diagrams/bridge-pontic
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The false tooth on the gum. <a href="https://khalidaletaibi.com/en/diagrams/bridge-pontic">Dr. Khalid Aletaibi</a>,
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