Unlike traditional bridges or removable dentures, dental implants are secured like natural teeth and have the ability to last for years to come. They offer a host of benefits for our oral health, and help patients enjoy a full smile again. In today’s blog, your Shrewsbury, MA, dentist talks about the benefits of our dental implants!
The Factors Behind Missing Teeth
How do we lose our natural teeth? Poor oral hygiene could be a factor, as this increases the risk of issues like tooth decay, dental infection, and the number one cause of adult tooth loss, gum disease. Which is why caring for your smile each and every day is so important! Tobacco use could be a factor too, as this encourages the periodontitis stage of gum disease. Injury to the smile could be a cause. Regardless of the cause, your missing teeth could lead to serious problems for the stability and health of your smile! Which is why when you have gaps in your smile, you should contact us about dental implants.
The Long-Term Oral Health Impacts
When you lose your teeth, this could leave behind gaps that complicate how you eat and speak, and could cause misalignment to develop. Your smile is then more vulnerable to issues like cavities, gum disease, TMJ disorder, and even bruxism (chronic teeth grinding). You could have trouble speaking clearly, and may feel embarrassed about your smile and hide it from the world. The body will suspend the flow of calcium and phosphorus to the jaw around the lost root, which leads to further tooth loss and an older appearance as the jaw loses mass and density. To counter and prevent these complications, you should talk to our team about dental implants.
Examining Your Smile
To begin, our team will thoroughly examine your smile to assess the cause and extent of your tooth loss. We will look at the underlying factors and see if you need treatment to manage them before we move forward with dental implant placement. We also want to make sure your jaw hasn’t weakened beyond the ability to support dental implants. If this has occurred, we can talk about treatments like jawbone grafting or a sinus lift to strengthen the jaw and provide new structures to support your new tooth roots, so you can receive dental implants.
Dental Sedation
Placement requires oral surgery, which is why take steps to ensure you’re comfortable during the process. In addition to a local numbing agent at the placement area, we will offer sedation to help you enter a calm and relaxed state, with little to no memory of the procedure afterward. We will choose from three different options, selecting one based on your age, weight, oral health, medical history or medications, and anxiety levels. You will enter a calm and relaxed state, with little to no memory of the treatment.
Placing Dental Implants
Each dental implant is a post made from biocompatible titanium that looks like a small screw. We guide this into the jaw at a position and angle that can support new teeth. The body will see this as a natural root, which causes the flow of calcium and phosphorus to resume, strengthening the jaw bone and preventing further breakdown in the smile. We can use one for an individual missing tooth, or several to support a bridge or even a full set of fixed dentures, which last far longer than traditional removable ones, and help protect your jawbone in the process.
Completing Your New Smile
When your posts are in place, we will then attach abutments to them that can support the restoration or prosthetic. For an individual one, we will create a custom crown that can handle daily bite forces and blends with your smile. For more severe tooth loss, bridges and dentures can be custom-made and attached the abutments. For some, we will need to wait for the placement area to heal, while offers can obtain a full some in one visit. If you have any questions about how our team treats tooth loss with implant dentistry, or if you are ready to tackle the gaps in your smile and enjoy a complete one again, then contact our team today to learn more! Everyone deserves a full and beautiful smile, and we’re ready to help them.
Ready to Enjoy a Full Smile Again?
Our team wants to help through each step of the implant placement process. A full smile is one that helps a person feel confident, but also safeguards their overall oral health too. To find out more about our custom and lifelike tooth replacement, please call our Shrewsbury/Grafton, MA area dental office at 508-842-8838.
