It’s no secret that losing teeth is a tough experience. For one, basic tasks like chewing and speaking become increasingly difficult. Furthermore, your smile’s appearance can make it hard to laugh or genuinely express yourself. Even worse, your facial shape begins to change because bone tissue is resorbing back into the body, making your face sag and your cheeks appear hollow. The psychological toll is enough to make people skip a social event or two.
While bridges and dentures both replace teeth, they don’t go far enough. If you’re looking for the most effective solution that truly lasts, a dental implant in Frisco can provide benefits you won’t see anywhere else.
Why Bridges and Dentures Only Solve Part of the Problem
Bridges consist of a metal frame and a series of crowns fused together, which then attaches on top of natural teeth in order to “bridge” the gap in your smile. Despite the fact that this bridge is held in place quite well, it puts a lot of stress on your natural teeth in order to stay anchored. While the crowns that sit on top of teeth help reduce this issue, natural teeth still require additional removal of enamel in order for the crown to fit properly, which means either way you’re losing valuable tooth structure in the process.
Dentures offer a different issue. While they are effective at replacing many teeth at once by fitting over the palate or lower jaw (depending on which one you choose), they require daily maintenance to make last and denture adhesive to keep in place, especially during the first few weeks of wear. No matter how much you try to keep them stable, they never truly feel natural and they always end up slipping at some point.
How Dental Implants Finish the Job
Nowadays, bridges and dentures are no longer the only solutions to replacing teeth. In fact, they take tooth replacement a step further by supplying the entire tooth structure, not just the visible crown portion like dentures and bridges do. In this case, a titanium post replaces the missing root by bonding with existing oral tissue. A crown, bridge or denture attaches to the implant much like a natural root, ensuring no slippage and the most natural feeling tooth replacement possible. Since implants are fixed devices, they also do not require any special maintenance outside of brushing and flossing to keep healthy. And, because the implant is strong enough to hold the restoration, you don’t need to remove existing tooth structure just to have it placed.
The Restorative Properties of Dental Implants
Once the implant is fully integrated with your jaw, you’ll start to notice many restorative benefits that you cannot expect with bridges or dentures. A few of these restorative benefits include:
- Stronger biting force (thanks to regular bone stimulation)
- The most natural-feeling tooth replacement possible
- Restored jaw bone (and therefore improved facial appearance)
- Restored blood flow (meaning retained elasticity of your facial tissue)
If you’re missing teeth, schedule an appointment with a periodontist in Frisco to discuss your tooth replacement options in more detail!
About the Author
As a periodontist, Dr. Zachary Carnow is fully qualified to place dental implants safely and effectively. Of course, his expertise also includes preparatory treatments to make dental implants more viable, including bone grafts, sinus lifts, and soft tissue grafting. To learn more about his practice, you can contact him through his website.