3d render of jaw with teeth and maryland bridge

What is a Maryland dental bridge?

This kind of bridge is made from a specially formulated, highly durable porcelain, and held in place with metal wings that are fixed to the neighbouring tooth. Maryland bridges are a type of no-drilling adhesive dental bridge which are very popular as they do not need the neighbouring teeth to be shaved down. These bridges are generally more suitable for patients with missing teeth at the front of their mouth.

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How are Maryland dental bridges fitted?


First you need to see one of our dentists for a consultation and assessment of the neighbouring teeth. Loose or heavily filled neighbouring teeth are not reliable or suitable foundations for a Maryland bridge. The neighbouring tooth will need to be free of gum disease and decay and ideally not heavily filled. Maryland bridges rely on strong bonding to the enamel of the neighbouring tooth, so if a lot of the neighbouring tooth enamel has been lost, bonding to the adhesive bridge is unlikely to be strong. If the neighbouring tooth is heavily filled or crowned, a conventional bridge or dental implant maybe more appropriate.


If the neighbouring tooth is sound, we would then take an iTero 5D digital scan or impression of your teeth and send it to the laboratory for construction of the bridge.


Once the bridge arrives back from the lab, fitting of the Maryland bridge is done with high strength resin cement. The resin cement provides a chemical bond between the tooth and the bridge. In order to increase the bond strength between the tooth and the bridge, at Pearl Dental Clinic we use the AquaCare air abrasion system which uses high pressure micron-sized Aluminium Oxide particles to create an additional mechanical bond for the bridge. This additional bond significantly reduces the risk of the bridge debonding in future.


It can take several months for your bite to fully adjust to the new bridge but in over 90% of time the bite does adjust and accepts the new bridge.

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How long will Maryland dental bridges last?

80% of Maryland bridges last up to 10 years. Occasionally they may debond but they can be recemented easily. You may wish to have a same-day denture as a backup in case your bridge debonds. You can use the denture until you can get back to the dental clinic for bridge recementation.

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