If you are in your smile, it can affect much more than how people perceive you. Patients with missing teeth are at increased risk for poor nutrition, tooth decay, and even jawbone deterioration. To prevent serious oral health issues and regain confidence, we recommend asking our Troy, MI, dentist if you are a candidate for dental implants. We’ll thoroughly assess your dental needs and walk you through the entire process should you be interested in moving forward.
In the meantime, however, here’s how single-tooth implants can improve your smile and overall dental health.
When Placed, Dental Implants Can:
Improve Nutrition
When you’ve lost a tooth, it can be difficult to eat the foods you love (and other healthy foods, for that matter). When this happens, you may restrict your diet to only those foods that are least painful to eat with the teeth you have left. Sometimes this means people aren’t able to eat the nutrient-rich foods they need to be healthy.
It’s important to understand that your oral health is part of a larger system. When you are unable to eat a variety of foods packed full of nutrients, it can negatively affect your bones. It’s important to maintain good oral health because it can reflect the health of the rest of your body.
This is where the stability of single-tooth dental implants plays a positive and transformative role. Because the titanium post is embedded in your jawbone and not resting on top of the gums, you can chew naturally, helping you maintain a balanced diet and enjoy a broader range of foods.
Forget having to take out false teeth and limit your consumption of anything tough, hard, sticky, or crunchy. With tooth implants, you can move away from only the “safe” foods that may not always be the most fulfilling or healthiest. You’re instead free to enjoy all of your favorites without any worries, leading to better nutrition and overall health.
Stop Tooth Decay & Further Tooth Loss
Your teeth are held in place by the roots under the surface of your gums and from the support of your surrounding teeth. This means that when you lose a tooth, you also lose part of what was supporting nearby teeth. Teeth that have nothing to lean against begin to tilt toward the open space and can even become loose over time.
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Shifted teeth are also more vulnerable to tooth decay, which can lead to further tooth loss. To prevent subsequent damage to your smile, we recommend consulting with our local dental implant dentist to see if placement will work for you.
Prevent Jawbone Deterioration
When you bite down, the pressure stimulates your tooth root which in turn stimulates the bone cells in your jaw bone. However, when you lose a tooth, your jaw bone loses this stimulation and begins to deteriorate. In other words, your jaw bone needs pressure from tooth roots in order to remain healthy.
The only way to stop jaw deterioration is to replace missing teeth with a dental implant. The longer you wait to start the dental implant process, however, the more difficult it will be to repair your smile. In severe cases, jawbone loss can lead to jaw shrinkage and facial collapse which makes it more difficult to eat and speak correctly.
Whether you’re looking for or need an entire arch restored, talking with our dentist about dental implants will serve you well. They are a serious commitment, which is why it’s important you have all the facts so you can make an informed decision about your oral health.
How the Process of Osseointegration Helps
The term “osseointegration” is a bit of a mouthful but it’s a natural process that involves the metal post of the implant fusing with your jawbone. This greatly contributes to the and if this didn’t happen, there wouldn’t be any stability. Some patients may require bone grafting prior to dental implant placement to build up the jawbone where it has deteriorated.
Generally speaking, you can expect for osseointegration and full healing to take several months after dental implant surgery. Your timeline may also be altered if bone grafting needs to occur. This is obviously much longer than other types of restoration but many of our patients would agree that the time required is well worth the end result.
Schedule a Dental Implant Consultation
Our , will work with a trusted oral surgeon to help all qualified patients achieve their best smiles. If you’re interested in learning more about this option, please call Mosaic Dental today at (248) 528-2270 to schedule an appointment.
This blog post has been updated.
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