Measured diagram
What does a Maryland bridge look like from the front and from behind?
Three upper front teeth drawn to Wheeler's measurements, crowns down as in the mouth. From the front only the false lateral incisor shows; the wing is hidden behind the central incisor, drawn dashed. From the palate the wing, the connector and the false tooth are one piece: the wing covers most of the central's palatal enamel, clear of the gum, the edge and the other contact, and the canine is not touched.
What the drawing is measured from
- Drawn as Dr. Khalid makes a Maryland bridge: one wing, on the central incisor, with no preparation, in lithium disilicate. The wing is drawn from 2.6 mm below the cervical line to 1.5 mm short of the edge, at least 1 mm from the gum and 0.8 mm from the other contact; the connector sits at the contact, clear of the false tooth's edge. The false tooth's shape depends on the case. The gum is drawn 1.0 mm past each cervical line, as in the site's other figures.
- A systematic review of 2,300 resin-bonded bridges found survival of 91.4 per cent at five years and 82.9 per cent at ten; bridges held by one wing survived longer and came loose less often than those held by two. Thoma et al. 2017, Clinical Oral Implants Research. DOI
- Of 310 single-wing zirconia bridges replacing incisors, followed for a mean of about seven years, 97.3 per cent were estimated to survive 15 years; 17 came loose, and 16 of them were bonded back. Kern et al. 2025, The Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry. 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
A Maryland bridge from the front and from the palate. Dr. Khalid Aletaibi, CC BY 4.0. https://khalidaletaibi.com/en/diagrams/bridge-views
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A Maryland bridge from the front and from the palate. <a href="https://khalidaletaibi.com/en/diagrams/bridge-views">Dr. Khalid Aletaibi</a>,
<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY 4.0</a>
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