Measured diagram
How does the false tooth of a bridge sit on the gum, and can you clean under it?
A close-up under the false tooth in the step-by-step figure, with a 1 mm scale. Its rounded underside rests lightly on the gum without pressing into it; the gum over the healed ridge is drawn 2.2 mm thick, and the underside curves up at each side, leaving room for floss and small brushes.
What the drawing is measured from
- Drawn from the bridge in the step-by-step figure. The false tooth's shape depends on the case; one rounded design is drawn, touching the gum over about 3 mm and rising away from it at each side.
- 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
- 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
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
Under the false tooth. Dr. Khalid Aletaibi, CC BY 4.0. https://khalidaletaibi.com/en/diagrams/bridge-underside
HTML embed
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<img src="https://khalidaletaibi.com/figures/bridge-underside-en.svg" alt="Under the false tooth" width="100%">
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Under the false tooth. <a href="https://khalidaletaibi.com/en/diagrams/bridge-underside">Dr. Khalid Aletaibi</a>,
<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY 4.0</a>
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