With great improvements that have been experienced in the dental field in the recent past, it makes sense to expect fewer people looking for a solution for tooth loss. Millions of Americans, however, still suffer tooth loss due to gum disease, tooth decay, or injury. For many years, patients had bridges and dentures as their only treatment options. However, today, dental implants are available, and they offer a permanent solution.
Understanding dental implants
Dental implants are artificial tooth roots that are fixed on your jaw to hold replacement teeth or bridges. These fixtures provide a strong foundation for removable and permanent replacement teeth that are custom-made to fit the gap and perfectly match with your natural teeth.
Dental implants can be an option for those who have lost a tooth or teeth because of an injury, gum disease, or any other reason. This dental procedure can be costly, but nowadays it is possible to get affordable dental implants. Some of the benefits associated with getting implants are:
- Dental implants improve your facial appearance. These fixtures look and feel more or less the same as your own natural teeth. They are also designed to fuse perfectly with bone, and thus, once fixed, they become completely permanent.
- Unlike poorly fitting dentures that can slip within your mouth making you to slur your words or mumble, dental implants are quite fastened in or onto the jaw bone thus giving you no reason to worry that teeth might sleep.
- Once fixed, implants become part of you, and therefore, they do away with the discomfort found with removable dentures.
- Implants function just like your own teeth, and they don’t slide—which mean that you can eat your favorite foods with confidence.
- Bridges require reducing of other teeth to fit and function properly, which can negatively affect your oral health. Now, your teeth are left intact when installing implants and thus improving your long-term oral health.
- With good care and maintenance, implants can last even a lifetime.
Who should get implants?
Anyone with missing teeth is allowed to get implants. However, there are times when the jaw bone can prove unfit for the implants. For instance, if the jawbone is found to be too weak to support the implant, the dentist will recommend that you either get a bone grafting to strengthen the bone or look for other alternatives, such as partial dentures. There are also other conditions—such as gum disease and high blood pressure—that could make getting implants impossible.
How long does it take to get the implants?
If you are planning to get implants, you will have to be very patient. This is because the implantation process will take between six to nine months. This is because, after the first part of the process, which is fixing the titanium screws, you will need about three to five months to heal. After the stumps have been fixed, they will also need time to get integrated to the mouth.
In case you need to get implants, or you have questions about caring for the implants, visit http://auburnopelikadentist.com/ to learn more. Your dental practitioner and periodontist will work together to make your dreams come true.