Whether You’re Missing One Tooth Or Need To Replace Them All, Dental Implants Are The Best Choice. Here’s Why Dental Implants Are A Sure Bet For Tooth Replacement. Read On To Learn More.
Despite our country’s wealth and decades of medical and dental advances, approximately 178 million American mouths are missing at least one tooth. In fact, 40 million have no teeth at all.
Missing teeth can make you look older and interfere with your ability to digest your food or speak properly. Researchers have also found a connection between tooth loss and higher blood sugar, blood pressure, and waist size. These markers point to an increased risk of heart disease.
At Sharp Dentistry & Associates, our founder Bruno Sharp, CD, DDS, MS, — a fourth-generation dentist — and our entire team believe that a healthy mouth improves your overall health. When it comes to replacing missing teeth, our top choice for restoring your smile and reducing health risks associated with tooth loss are dental implants. Here’s why.
A permanent solution
Although dental implants are the superior tooth-replacement system, the most important thing is to replace your missing teeth as soon as possible. The longer you go without a tooth or teeth, the more you risk damaging your other teeth and risking complications such as jaw bone atrophy. Tooth replacement options include:
Removable complete dentures
These full arches of false teeth adhere to your gums with adhesives. You must remove them regularly for cleaning. They may slip and interfere with your ability to eat your favorite foods and speak clearly.
Removable partial denture
A partial denture consists of an acrylic base and sometimes a metal framework that clips onto your existing teeth.
Tooth-supported fixed bridge
A dental bridge consists of two or more crowns assembled into an appliance that spans the gap created by missing teeth. Fixed bridges attach to two or more natural anchoring teeth.
Resin-bonded bridge
Also known as a Maryland bridge, a resin-bonded bridge has wings on each side that attach to adjacent teeth. This type of bridge doesn’t require preparation of your existing teeth.
While bridges and dentures fill gaps to restore the beauty of your smile, they can slip and shift. Furthermore, since they don’t place pressure on your jawbone, the bone can erode over time. Only dental implants replace teeth in a natural and durable way. They also keep your jawbone strong and healthy.
Why dental implants are a top choice
Dental implants are titanium posts that we insert into your jawbone to mimic a natural tooth root. After the posts fuse with your bone, we cap them with porcelain crowns that are custom-crafted in color and shape to look like your natural teeth. You may wish to choose dental implants to replace missing teeth because:
Implants preserve your jawbone
Dentures and bridges rest on top of the gums and don’t apply pressure to your jawbone. Without health stress, your bone stops producing new bone cells. In contrast, the titanium “roots” of an implant stimulate your bone cells to keep renewing. Your facial structure is therefore preserved.
Implants don’t slip
Implants permanently fuse with your jawbone, just like real teeth. They don’t need adhesives and they don’t slip — not even if you bite into an apple.
Implants are long-lasting
In most cases, you pay more upfront for implants than other tooth-replacement systems. However, you could spend less money over time because implants can last for decades.
Implants don’t alter your speech
You speak more clearly with dental implants than with dentures or bridges. Your implants fit exactly where your missing teeth were, so your tongue and lips don’t have to “retrain” themselves.
Implants save time
The implant procedure may take months, but then you’re done. From that point, you treat your implants as if they were natural teeth. No more removing and cleaning dentures every night, then gluing them back in when you wake up in the morning. All you have to do is brush and floss daily and see us at least twice a year for check-ups and cleanings.
Implants don’t alter healthy teeth
Bridges and other tooth-replacement systems may require that we grind down your supporting teeth. With dental implants, the tooth is self-supporting, which preserves the health of your surrounding teeth.
Implants give you confidence
A smile filled with implants looks just like a smile of beautiful and healthy natural teeth. Implants are a confidence booster because they look natural.
To find out if you’re a candidate for dental implants, contact our friendly Sharp Dentistry team by phone or online form today.