Implant, bridge or denture?
Short answer: An implant replaces the root and preserves bone, but costs most and takes months. A bridge is quicker and cheaper but requires cutting down the healthy teeth either side. A denture is least expensive and least invasive, but it is removable and the bone underneath continues to shrink. Each is right in different circumstances.
What each one actually costs you
Price is the obvious difference and the least interesting one. The real question is what each option costs you beyond money.
Implant
Costs you: the most money, and three to six months. Gives you: a tooth that stands alone, preserves the bone, does not touch the neighbouring teeth, and cleans like a tooth. Rules it out: insufficient bone without grafting, uncontrolled gum disease, heavy smoking.
Bridge
Costs you: the teeth either side. They are cut down to hold the bridge, permanently, even if they were perfectly healthy. Gives you: a fixed tooth in a few weeks, not months, at lower cost. Best when: the neighbouring teeth already need crowns anyway — then nothing healthy is being sacrificed.
Denture
Costs you: having something removable, some adaptation, and no protection against bone shrinkage. Gives you: the lowest cost, the fastest result, nothing irreversible done to other teeth, and the ability to replace several teeth at once. Best when: several teeth are missing, or as a sensible interim while you decide. See are my dentures supposed to move?
The question that usually settles it
Are the teeth either side of the gap healthy and untouched?
If yes, a bridge means deliberately cutting into two healthy teeth to fix one problem. Many people, once that is spelled out, would rather not — and that pushes toward an implant.
If those teeth already have large fillings or need crowns, the calculation reverses. A bridge then solves three problems at once and the argument for an implant weakens considerably.
The second question is how many teeth are missing. For one, implants and bridges both work. For several, a denture — or implants supporting a denture — often makes far more sense than replacing each tooth individually.
What a good plan looks like
A plan worth trusting presents more than one option, explains what each does to the neighbouring teeth, and gives itemised costs. If you have been offered exactly one option with no alternatives discussed, that is worth questioning — not because it is necessarily wrong, but because you cannot judge it without the comparison.
Bring the plan to us if you want another view. Second opinions are free, on any dentist's plan.
Common questions
Is an implant better than a bridge?
Not always. An implant preserves bone and leaves neighbouring teeth untouched, which is a real advantage. But if the teeth either side already need crowns, a bridge solves several problems at once and can be the better value.
Why does a bridge damage the other teeth?
Because the teeth either side of the gap must be cut down to act as supports. That is permanent, and it is done even if those teeth are perfectly healthy. It is the main hidden cost of a bridge.
Are dentures a bad option?
No. Dentures are the least invasive and least expensive option, can replace several teeth at once, and are a sensible interim while you decide. The trade-off is that they are removable and do not stop the bone shrinking underneath.
Can I have an implant years after losing a tooth?
Often yes, though bone shrinks after a tooth is lost and grafting may be needed to rebuild enough to place one. That adds cost and time, which is why the decision is easier made sooner.