I've had a bridge on my lower front teeth (front 8 teeth) for about 10 years. I haven't had too many problems with it excpet for the last few days. I have 4 anchors for the bridge as I am missing the 2 front lowers.
The past couple of days I've had a dull pain sensation and noticed a small swollen area under one of my left anchors. It has subsided a bit, but I'm still having to take Tylenol for the achiness. Now, it feels as if the bridge is actually shifting, can that happen?
The gum is tender around the area and I've been very careful not to brush too hard around the area as well as rinsing twice a day. However, it feels as if the bridge is being pushed up, but it doesn't feel loose at all. Then today, I noticed a small black area on the other side (the right side) and saw it was a small area where I can see the metal part under the bridge, like a hole between the bridge teeth. I haven't paid that much attention to things like that before now, so could it be possible that I'm just over-thinking all this?
I dread having to get it looked at because a) I remember the excrutiating pain of getting the bridge in place to begin with and b) I have no dental insurance. Any advice or encouragement, even if it's what I don't want to hear, would be appreciated. Sorry for the length of this post.