Dental implant vs bridge, when one tooth is missing: an implant with its crown costs €1,100, and a three-unit bridge costs €810. The bridge is cheaper and finished sooner, but it rests on the two neighboring teeth, which have to be reshaped. The implant goes in the gap on its own and helps preserve the bone. The choice depends above all on those two neighboring teeth.
It isn’t a decision to make based on the price on day one, because the two options age differently. In this post we compare what each one costs, what you gain and what you give up with each, and the cases where one fits better than the other.
Contents
What a dental implant is and what a dental bridge is
A dental implant is a titanium screw placed in the bone, where the lost root used to be. Once the bone has fused with it, a crown is placed over it. It’s an independent piece: the neighboring teeth play no part.
A fixed dental bridge is a single piece made of several crowns joined together. The crowns at each end are cemented onto the teeth on either side of the gap, which act as abutments, and the one in the middle fills the space with no root underneath.
For those crowns to fit, the abutment teeth have to be reshaped, that is, filed down all around to make room for the crown.
The differences that matter
The neighboring teeth
A bridge requires reshaping two teeth. If they’re healthy, you lose enamel that doesn’t grow back, and a reshaped tooth has a higher risk of decay at the edge of the crown or of needing a root canal over the years. If, on the other hand, those teeth already have large fillings or crowns, reshaping them matters less, because they would have needed protection anyway.
The bone in the gap
After a tooth is lost, the bone that held it loses volume, especially during the first year. Under a bridge nothing slows that down, because the middle crown only rests on the gum.
An implant, by contrast, is fused to the bone, and in studies comparing dentures with and without implants, bone is lost more slowly where there are implants. This matters more at the front of the mouth, where a sunken gum shows when you smile.
Time
A bridge is finished in a few weeks. An implant needs two to three months between the surgery and the final crown, although you don’t have to walk around with a visible gap in the meantime: you can wear a temporary tooth.
Cleaning
You brush an implant and clean it with floss or an interdental brush, just like any other tooth. Regular floss won’t go under the middle piece of a bridge: you need a floss threader or an interdental brush. That’s exactly where plaque builds up, so this habit goes a long way toward deciding how long the bridge lasts.
What each option costs
How much it costs to get a dental implant
Getting a dental implant costs €1,100 on our price list, including the titanium implant, the abutment, the custom crown and the checkups. The initial study is free. If your case needs bone regeneration, that step is extra and is on the quote before anything starts. The full breakdown is in the price of titanium dental implants.
Price of a dental bridge
A bridge is charged by unit, and each unit is a crown: on our price list, a zirconia or porcelain crown costs €270. So a three-unit dental bridge, the typical case of one missing tooth between two abutments, comes to €810 (3 × €270), and a four-unit bridge, for two missing teeth in a row, to €1,080 (4 × €270).
When more teeth in a row are missing, a bridge resting only on natural teeth has to carry more units on the same abutments, and the usual option becomes an implant-supported bridge: two or more implants hold several joined crowns, without reshaping any teeth. That type of bridge is quoted after the study, depending on how many implants it needs.
And the removable denture
The third option is a denture you take out to clean. When all the teeth are missing, the removable complete prosthesis costs €540 on our price list.
When only some are missing, there’s the partial denture, which many people call a bridge with clasps because it hooks onto the remaining teeth with small clasps. It has no price on the published list and is quoted according to how many teeth it replaces.
It involves less work in the mouth than the other two, with no surgery and no reshaping of teeth; in exchange, it moves more when you eat and doesn’t slow down bone loss. All three options are explained in dental prostheses in Barcelona.
When each one makes sense
An implant is a better fit if
- The neighboring teeth are healthy or have small fillings.
- There’s enough bone, or it can be regenerated without complications.
- The gap is in an area where keeping the volume of the gum matters.
- You prefer each tooth to be independent and to clean it like the others.
A bridge is a better fit if
- The neighboring teeth already have crowns or large fillings.
- Bone is lacking and you’d rather avoid regeneration.
- An illness or medication makes surgery inadvisable, for example certain intravenous bone medications or active cancer treatment.
- You need it done in a few weeks.
Before choosing the color of the crown
Both an implant crown and the crowns of a bridge are made in a color that won’t change: ceramic doesn’t lighten with whitening. If you want whiter teeth, the order matters: whiten first, then have the crown made in the new shade.
Teeth whitening costs €250 at our clinic, with the cleaning included, and it’s only done for people over 18. The details are in teeth whitening in Barcelona.
What happens if the tooth isn’t replaced
A gap doesn’t stay the same over time. The teeth on either side can drift into the empty space, especially in the first two years, and the tooth in the opposite jaw tends to move toward it, looking for something to bite against.
These changes are slow, but they take up room, and when you finally decide to replace the tooth, they may need correcting first, or the lost bone may need regenerating. So even though it isn’t an emergency, it’s wiser not to let it go for years.
How to decide
You need two pieces of information that can’t be known from home: how much bone is left in the gap and what condition the two neighboring teeth are in. Both come out of the first visit, which is free and includes the X-ray, and with them in front of you, the choice between implant and bridge stops being theoretical.
If you’d like to read about implant treatment first, it’s in dental implants in Barcelona. You can request a visit at book an appointment online.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a molar implant cost?
Our price list makes no distinction between molars and front teeth: an implant with its crown costs €1,100. What does change with molars is the planning, because they take more force when you chew and, in the upper jaw, the maxillary sinus can be close by. That shows up in the study and, if an extra step is needed, it’s quoted before anything starts.
How much does a false tooth cost?
It depends on how the false tooth is held. Fixed on an implant, €1,100 with the crown included. Fixed as part of a three-unit bridge, €810. If all the teeth are missing and you’d rather have a denture you can take out, the removable complete prosthesis costs €540. All three figures come from our published price list.
Can I switch from a bridge to an implant later?
Yes. The bridge is removed, the implant is placed in the gap and the teeth that served as abutments are protected with their own crowns. The more time has passed, the more likely it is that the bone under the bridge has shrunk and will need regenerating first.
Does getting an implant hurt?
Not during the surgery, because the area is numbed as it would be for a filling; you feel pressure and vibration. Afterward, mild discomfort for the first few days is usual, and it’s managed with common painkillers. If you’re very afraid of the dentist, it can be done with conscious sedation. Reshaping teeth for a bridge is also done under anesthesia.
How long does a dental bridge last?
In studies that follow bridges for ten years, about 9 in 10 are still in place. How long one lasts depends above all on the teeth that hold it: if one of them gets decay under the crown or needs a root canal, the whole bridge suffers. Hygiene under the middle piece and regular checkups are what help it last.
