Missing teeth can have an adverse effect on your smile, but dental implants are an excellent solution. They look, feel, and work like your natural teeth.
Unlike traditional bridges, dental implants don’t require the reduction of healthy adjacent teeth. They also prevent bone resorption and help preserve the natural symmetry of your face.
1. Strength and Durability
Unlike other dental restorative options, such as bonding or dentures, implants are anchored to your jaw bone. This allows the implant to become part of your natural smile. Implants are strong, durable and incredibly long-lasting. The titanium part of an implant firmly embeds into the bone and can last a lifetime if you maintain a robust dental hygiene routine.
In fact, dental implants are said to be even stronger than your real teeth! This strength is due to their design. When you lose a tooth, the surrounding bones naturally resorb, causing your face to sink in and wrinkles to form. Dental implants prevent this from occurring and keep your facial structure looking youthful.
Moreover, implants allow you to smile and eat with confidence. You can eat steak, corn on the cob and apples without worrying about whether your implants will fall out. Implants also restore the roof of your mouth, which contains taste buds. This means your food will taste better too! This is a significant improvement over dentures which cover the roof of your mouth.
2. Longevity
Dental implants fuse with your jaw bone through a process called osseointegration, which makes them a permanent solution. Unlike traditional bridges, which require your dentist to remove healthy teeth from adjacent teeth to hold and anchor them in place, dental implants are supported by the titanium post embedded in the jaw.
Once in place, they preserve bone density and prevent bone resorption. They also allow you to eat more naturally and chew more thoroughly than when you have one or more missing teeth.
However, their longevity depends on a few factors, such as your oral health. You should brush and floss your teeth regularly to prevent gum disease, which can damage the implant and surrounding teeth. You should also avoid tough foods and never use your implants to open packages, as they could get dislodged or cracked. Additionally, smoking can cause dental implants to fail prematurely by interfering with blood flow to the area and impacting osteointegration and healing. Therefore, it’s important to quit smoking before getting dental implants. Fortunately, when cared for properly, dental implants can last a lifetime.
3. Natural Appearance
The fact that dental implants fuse with your jawbone (a process called osseointegration) and promote bone growth means you’ll enjoy the natural appearance of a full smile. This prevents the sunken look you might get with other restoration options. The implants also fill the empty space in your mouth, preventing other teeth from shifting to compensate and creating gaps or causing misaligned bites.
In addition, dental implants are carefully designed to blend in with your other teeth. Their color matches the surrounding teeth, making them nearly impossible to distinguish from a natural tooth. And because they are strong and stable, you can bite and chew without any restrictions — unlike dentures.
If you practice good oral hygiene and visit your dentist regularly, you can expect to enjoy the unmatched durability of your implant teeth for a lifetime. But that’s not the only reason to get them in place today: if you delay, you might lose more of your own natural teeth. That means fewer natural teeth to support your existing bridge or removable dentures, and more problems down the road.
4. Comfort
Unlike other tooth replacement solutions, implants fuse to your jaw bone. As a result, they feel natural in your mouth. They also make it easier to chew and speak. Traditional dentures can slip within the mouth, making it difficult to eat or speak clearly. Dental implant clinics help your teeth to be more stable and allow you to enjoy all of your favorite foods.
Dental implants are made of titanium, a material that naturally fuses to living bone. This process occurs during a minor procedure done in the office, and it allows your new teeth to feel and look completely natural.
Additionally, your natural teeth have roots that have nerves, which means you can feel sensations like hot or cold. However, many people who wear traditional dentures experience this problem, and they must rely on suction and adhesives for comfort. Getting dental implants eliminates this problem, allowing you to enjoy your food and communicate without worrying about your teeth slipping out of place. In addition, implants don’t shift like dentures do, so you can speak, laugh and smile with ease.
5. Boost Your Confidence
In addition to a more confident smile, dental implants also improve your health. Leaving a gap in your teeth can lead to more serious oral health issues, including gum disease and jawbone deterioration. This can cause adjacent teeth to shift and weaken, resulting in more permanent tooth loss. Dental implants mimic natural tooth roots and restore your oral structure, preventing further complications.
Implants are a permanent solution that will last for decades or even a lifetime. They’re the only tooth replacement option that promotes bone growth and halts further loss through a process called osseointegration.
Another benefit is that dental implants are not removable, meaning you don’t have to worry about removing them before sleeping or socializing. They look, feel, and function like natural teeth, giving you a fuller, more youthful smile that will boost your self-esteem. In addition, implant-supported dentures are more stable than traditional ones, allowing you to bite, chew, and speak without discomfort or worry. They also allow you to reclaim the roof of your mouth, which contains taste buds. This allows you to reexperience the flavor of your favorite foods.
6. No Adhesives or Routine
When you have dental implants, there’s no need for any special cleaning products or adhesive. Just brush and floss regularly as you always have to maintain good oral health.
Dental implants replace the root of your tooth, so they feel and function just like natural teeth. They also mimic the bone stimulation that your natural teeth provide, helping to prevent bone loss in the jaw.
If you’ve lost several or all of your teeth, it can be hard to eat well. Often, you have to limit your diet to foods that are soft enough to chew or can be eaten with a straw. This can include scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, yogurt, flaky fish and so on.
When you have dental implants, you can enjoy all the foods that you love again without worrying about how they’ll hold up or if you’ll be able to chew properly. You’ll also find that food tastes much better as you won’t have the roof of your mouth covered, which blocks your taste buds. You can also avoid chewing on inanimate objects or ice, which could crack or break the implant.
7. Better Taste
A missing tooth can make it difficult to chew food properly, causing discomfort and putting stress on your stomach. You may also have trouble pronouncing certain words or develop a lisp. A Forest Park dentist can restore the natural functionality of your teeth with dental implants, allowing you to eat whatever you like.
Traditional dentures have a tendency to slip out of place while eating or speaking, but dental implants are extremely secure. This means you can enjoy your favorite steak, corn on the cob, and apples without having to worry about embarrassing accidents.
In addition to their cosmetic benefits, dental implants also help prevent future oral health problems such as bone loss and the shifting of neighboring teeth. With proper care, your dental implants will last a lifetime. To maintain optimal results, we recommend brushing twice daily, flossing regularly, and visiting our office for regular cleanings and examinations. Our restorative dentistry practice can handle all phases of dental implant treatment, from surgical placement to cosmetic restoration..
8. Embarrassment-Free
With dental implants, you can smile, eat, and talk with confidence. You won’t have to limit your diet like you do with removable dentures or worry about what other people will think of you as you eat. You can enjoy foods like apples, carrots, and fried chicken without any trouble. You can also savor your favorite beverages, such as coffee and hot chocolate.
Other tooth replacement options do not offer this benefit. Without a full set of teeth, your mouth will begin to shift and cause bite problems, and you may even require braces in the future. A dental implant fills in the space, preventing this shifting from happening and preserving the integrity of adjacent teeth and your jawbone.
As you can see, dental implants are the superior choice when it comes to replacing missing or damaged teeth. They look and feel more natural than other tooth replacement options and they can last a lifetime when properly cared for. Contact us today to schedule your consultation!
