What options are there to make my permanent bridge as perfectly as my temporary if I lost it, & the clinic lost my measurements?

First, you seem to have some misunderstandings.  The office likely didn't take any measurements, they took impressions.  What the LAB needs they should already have, so nothing to worry about.  For the provisional bridge, or temporary, an extra impression was likely taken to make it.  OUR office keeps this impression in the office until the final is seated, but many offices use a material that degrades very quickly, so they can't make another if this situation happens.  Nothing was lost, nothing was measured, they simply don't have a "plan B".The final restoration will likely look great.  The lab will custom fabricate a bridge that will look balanced and proportional with a comfortable bite.  It may look slightly different, but good (certainly better than the temporary bridge made from "scratch").  Temporary bridges made without the initial impression are rarely very pretty (but better than nothing) since the dental OFFICE is not usually as talented as the LAB.You don't mention a lab, so perhaps this was a preliminary stage.  If so, this is pretty simple. New impressions can be sent to the lab for a wax blueprint of your bridge for your approval.  If you approve, a temporary can be made from duplicating the wax up and the info can be sent to the lab.  A short time later, the final can be seated.  If this has all been done and is at the lab, you likely only have a few more days to wait for the final beautiful bridge.

The fact that you had a temporary bridge in your mouth, means that an impression was taken at your initial appointment and that impression was likely sent to a lab to construct your permanent bridge.  If, by chance, the lab were to loose your impressions, then your dentist would simply take another impression and order a wax-up.  The lab would make the wax-up, then send it back to your dentist so that he/she could examine it, then show it to you.  Once you and your dentist agree that it is a great looking bridge wax-up, then the dentist will order your permanent bridge based exactly on that perfect wax-up.  Ultimately, you will receive a great bridge after a little delay, since the original was lost.  In your case however, I suspect that the lab never lost your initial impressions, so you should be right on track to get a perfect bridge at your next appointment.  Good luck and I hope this helps. Follow me if you have more questions.Sarah Thompson, DMD

Since you don't have all the "pretreatment" measurements, photos or models, and you hate your temporary bridge, your dentist would be best off to start over.If you were "my patient", and I lost all of that important information, then I would have the lab make a diagnostic waxup to make you a new temporary bridge.  That should look way better than the free hand temporary bridge your dentist made you.Then you can wear that to critique the shape, length, shade of the temporary bridge.  If you want the shape changed, your dentist can do that.  If you want any of the teeth shorter or longer, the dentist can make those changes to your bridge also.  Then, when you approve of the adjusted temporaries, your dentist could take photos of it, measure the length, take a study model impression of it, and get your written approval for the lab tech to copy the design you approved.  This is often called "the trial smile" stage and used by many cosmetic dentists doing bridges, crowns or porcelain veneers for front teeth.You might be interested in reading articles from the web link below to explain how this process is used.

I don't really record any real measurements when doing a basic crown and bridge.  We are really limited as to the options because there is only a given width and height to the space being restored.  A single tooth crown is usually just a mirror image of the same tooth on the other side.  With bridges we can sometimes barrow some space from an adacent tooth's space to make the esthetics better toward the front of the mouth.  As mentioned below, the lab can always do a wax up to look at and then make an exact temporary before the final crown or bridge is completed. 

I can imagine how frustrating it must be.  Normally an expert lab can use photo and the the shape of the existing teeth on the other side to make teeth that would resemble your natural teeth.  If you are very concerned, you can have the dentist make you a lab processed temporaries that would resemble the final bridge made out of plastic for you to try out, however this is a costlier option.  Second option can be to have the lab do a wax model of how the bridge is going to look to show you before the final bridge is fabricated. The third option is to have the lab make the final bridge with the understanding if you are not satisfied it has to be redone.  Hope pe this helps.Best,Dr. maddahi