Dental Implants

Leo Arellano, DDS

Imagine a tooth replacement that looks and feels much like your own natural tooth. Because dental implants can offer this and other benefits, they may be the best way to replace your missing teeth.

Dental implants consist of an artificial tooth root that is implanted into the jawbone and a restoration, or replacement tooth. Once the implant has been attached to the jawbone and a period of healing has passed, the replacement tooth is attached to the implant. Dentures can also be attached to implants, serving as replacement teeth.

Implants can be used to replace single or multiple missing teeth. They can also be used to help stabilize or support removable partial and full dentures. In all cases, dental implants can result in a significant improvement in your quality of life.

Implants are not new nor are they considered experimental. The origin of modern implants can be traced to Sweden in the 1950s. But it was not until the 1980s that the use of dental implants became widespread in the United States. Implants as a replacement for teeth have a success rate of 90-95%.

Two methods of replacing missing teeth that are used more often than implants are removable partial and full dentures and fixed bridges. However, some denture wearers never get used to the discomfort and loss of taste and function associated with them. Others say that dentures make them feel old. Bridges alleviate these problems but at a huge price Ò irreversible damage to the teeth that support the bridge. These teeth are usually ground down to a little 'peg' so that the bridge can be attached.

Enter dental implants! Again, they may be the best way to replace your missing teeth. Let's look at their benefits.

Benefits of Implants:

Preserve Teeth Ò Implants can stand on their own. They do not require the assistance of your natural teeth for support. Partial dentures and fixed bridges require some degree of 'preparation' of the adjacent natural teeth. As mentioned above, the latter can involve grinding your teeth down to little pegs in order to attach the bridge. Even this may not ensure stability if the supporting teeth are loose or weak.

Preserve Bone Ò Healthy implants can preserve bone just like your own healthy natural teeth. No other option offers this. In fact, wearing dentures can accelerate bone loss, making the dentures less stable and more uncomfortable over time. This shrinkage of the jawbones can also make your face look older.

Improve Comfort Ò Implants can be more comfortable than full or partial dentures. Dentures are supported either by soft gum tissues that cover the jawbones and/or by teeth. Over time, these structures can change and teeth can become loose, resulting in pain and discomfort. These unfortunate side effects are avoided with implants since they do not rely on the jawbones/teeth for support.

Improve Speech Ò Implants can securely anchor loose dentures that impede speech.

Improve the Ability to Eat Ò Every denture wearer has to learn how to eat with dentures. They are never like your own teeth. Some people never get used to them. Implants, on the other hand, can restore your chewing efficiency to that of your natural teeth, since they are anchored to your jawbone. Implants can also improve taste by allowing you to have a full upper denture without covering your palate.

Improve Esthetics Ò Implants can eliminate the need for the unsightly clasps that come with partial dentures. And since they don't rely on the adjacent teeth for support, they may eliminate the need for additional crowns, which sometimes have the side effect of damaging the appearance of your natural tooth.

Improve Quality of Life Ò Implants can eliminate the need for messy denture adhesives, special time-consuming oral hygiene techniques to clean around bridges, and other embarrassing inconveniences that come with dentures. Furthermore, considering all of the above benefits, implants can improve your self-esteem. By allowing you to regain the capabilities of your natural teeth, you can focus on enjoying life.

Keep Teeth Separate Ò Ideal implant placement allows treatment to be isolated to individual teeth. When one tooth of a bridge needs treatment, usually the whole bridge needs replacement. But now that implants are available, adjacent teeth do not need to be treated.

Reduce Long-Term Costs Ò With all of the benefits mentioned so far, the higher initial cost of implants and their restorations is usually offset in the long term by their high success rates, low maintenance, ability to keep treatment isolated to specific areas, and high patient satisfaction.

Trends

Today's dental implants are better than they have ever been. And with continued research, they will only get better. In the future, we can expect dental implants to become even more convenient. Improvements will likely include shorter healing time, less time for restoration, surgeries performed in one stage, simplicity of placement and restoration, and better esthetic results. Shouldn't you be considering dental implants?

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