Dental Implants: A Solution to Replacing Lost Teeth

When it comes to your smile, taking care of your teeth is an investment in not only good oral health but also fully-body health. With tooth loss, even missing one tooth can affect you in multiple ways and cause problems you may have never even considered, including lack of confidence, shifting of surrounding teeth, chewing and speech difficulties.

What Happens When a Tooth is Lost?

When you lose one tooth, the rest of your teeth must work harder. As the remaining teeth shift to fill the tooth gap, it can make cleaning between them, removing harmful plaque and developing tartar much harder. Additionally, the extra space left behind from a missing tooth tends to harbor bacteria that can spread to nearby teeth.

What Can Cause Tooth Loss?

There are a handful of things that can contribute to losing a tooth, including:

• Untreated tooth decay
• Gum disease
• Dental injury
• Family history/genetics
• Poor diet
• Poor oral hygiene

Replacing a missing tooth as soon as possible is important. A missing tooth can negatively impact your mouth, jaw. Anyone can lose a tooth, not just the elderly.

Conditions That Develop When Losing a Tooth

If a tooth is lost, you may find yourself experiencing the following:

• An altered bite alignment as the upper and lower jaws don't meet correctly, causing problems with your jaw joint and tooth sensitivity
• The jawbone deteriorates when the tooth root structure is gone, leaving your facial profile sunken and misshapen
• Losing teeth can impact your diet, making it difficult to eat healthy foods when it hurts to chew and cause problems digesting your food if you're unable to break down the foods more with your mouth
• Speech and pronunciation is affected, leading to slurred words, lisping, or spitting when talking
• Lower confidence because of problems such as incorrect speech, chewing and appearance

What are Dental Implants and Why Should You Choose it as a Treatment Option?

If you have lost one or more teeth, it is important to replace them for your dental and general health. Common tooth replacement options include a fixed dental bridge, removable partial dentures and teeth implants. Dental implants are considered the gold standard for tooth replacement. Implants are rooted in the jaw, preserving jaw bone health by replacing the lost tooth root.

Dental implants are the only tooth replacement option that replaces and integrates the tooth root. Dental bridges and dentures can give you a beautiful smile, but the jawbone will keep deteriorating and will require adjustment or replacement in the years ahead. Dental implants maintain jawbone health along with appearance by preventing the facial sagging effect that can occur with other dental options.

Benefits of Tooth Implants

There are a number of benefits to selecting dental implants as a treatment option, such as:

• Anchored into the jawbone making them the most stable of tooth replacements
• Won't shift around in the mouth or fall out
• Don't require daily attachment with a dental adhesive like dentures
• Your diet stays the same with 100% bite capacity
• Dental implants don't require a change in brushing and flossing
• Look and feel natural in your mouth
• Don't take time getting used to since they look, feel and function like your own teeth

Dental Implants Process

Implants are a three-part restoration:

1. A biocompatible titanium post is placed into the jawbone (acting as a tooth root for stability)
2. An abutment piece is attached to the top of the post (acting as a connector)
3. It is then topped with a dental crown, dental bridge or denture for optimal security

As you can see, dental implants are a solution for a missing tooth and acts the most like your natural teeth. If you want help replacing the missing teeth in your smile, dental implants are a proven dental restoration that can have you speaking, eating, and looking your best. Give our team a call to learn more.