What can you do if you lose a tooth? Even if you faithfully take good care of your teeth with daily brushing, flossing and keeping up with dental cleanings, sometimes a tooth can be lost. A tooth can decay, gum disease can take its toll, as can osteoporosis, and injury or trauma can occur to the mouth.
Missing teeth can affect your appearance. The loss of teeth causes loss to the jawbone structure, causing the face to sag or appear sunken, making the face appear prematurely aged. When a tooth falls out or is removed, both the crown and the root are lost. Dental implants embed in the jawbone, preserving the structural integrity of the jaw, as a crown, bridge or denture is attached.
Dental implants have many benefits. They appear natural, mirroring your own teeth, so they look and feel and perform like your own. When you smile, speak, or chew you cannot tell a difference. Implants are set into healthy jaw bone and with proper care and maintenance can last a lifetime. Your speech with dental implants is unaffected, which you cannot say with missing teeth or even removable dentures and bridges.
Eating with dental implants is like eating with your natural teeth. You don’t have to avoid certain foods for fear of disturbing the implant and the food still tastes the same. Implants do not affect the taste of food either. Another benefit to implants is lack of tooth decay. Unlike a natural tooth which can decay and result in cavities, implants cannot get cavities! You will still want to care for the implant as you would your own teeth to keep the surrounding teeth and gums free from plaque and bacteria which can cause gum disease.
Because impacts are solidly fixed in the jaw, they cannot slip or slide while you are smiling, eating, speaking or even kissing. You will look and sound the same. Your jawbone health is stimulated and preserved because of the implant, mimicking the action of a natural tooth. With missing teeth, your jawbone under the tooth area can deteriorate from lack of stimulation, and your surrounding teeth can shift because of the lack of structure.
Dental implants have a reliable track record when it comes to dental restoration. If you have a missing tooth or teeth, or would like to replace your current removable device with something more permanent, you may be a candidate for dental implants.
Contact our friendly staff at Mockingbird Dental at 770-386-3908 and let us help you bring back your natural smile!