Dental implants are a great option for patients who have missing teeth and need them to be replaced. It allows us to replace your tooth without touching any of the surrounding teeth, and it’s really the closest thing that you can get to a natural tooth. So we would start off by placing a titanium component, which is the implant, into the jawbone.
After that has completely healed, we can then screw a tooth directly into that, and that’s the closest thing that we have to a natural tooth. The difference between a bridge and an implant is with a bridge, we would have to do crowns on the teeth next to the missing space. So for a patient who doesn’t have any cavities or any big fillings or issues with those surrounding teeth, it might not be in their best interest to remove tooth structure to be able to put a bridge there.
Whereas with an implant, we don’t have to remove any tooth structure from the surrounding teeth in that area. The other issue with the bridge is sometimes there is a little bit of space underneath the tooth where the fake tooth on the bridge. That can cause food to get stuck, and most patients don’t like that.
Dental implants are one of the longest lasting tooth replacement options that we have. There are many factors that can affect the longevity of an implant, however. Dietary factors, lifestyle, certain health conditions.
However, it is one of the longest lasting options that we have to replace a missing tooth. Seeing dental implants change people’s lives by giving them their teeth back, to be able to chew with their teeth, to be able to smile, and their confidence back. A lot of people like dental implants because it’s not something that’s removable that comes out.
And I’ve had a lot of patients come in with removable dentures and things of that nature, and they’ve had anxiety from it because sometimes they fall out and they move around when they’re chewing and they’re self-conscious about it. And dental implants can change people’s lives because it gives them that security that it’s not going to come out. IV sedation is a good option that we offer for our patients who are considering dental implants.
It gets them very comfortable and relaxed so that way they can undergo the procedure. Replacing missing teeth with dental implants can help restore chewing significantly. For patients who have a missing tooth, let’s say, for example, on the right side, what will end up happening inevitably is you start to use the left side more because you have more teeth over there.
When we replace the tooth on the right side, your chewing then becomes balanced on both sides. If we weren’t to do that, then you could start to have more issues on that left side, cracked teeth, cavities, and things like that. Can’t abuse one side versus the other, otherwise you’ll develop issues over there.
So I’ve had a lot of patients come in complaining of not being able to eat the foods that they once enjoyed. And dental implants is a really good option to be able to get them back to that point. Dentures, for example, are not the best option when it comes to chewing function just because they tend to move around and are not very comfortable.
Whereas dental implants are more stable and they don’t move around or come out and it’s the best way to restore your function and get you to be able to eat the foods that you once enjoyed.
