Dental implants are used to hold replacement teeth in place. This allows patients to maintain healthy smiles and feel confident showing their teeth. While you may have cosmetic reasons for wanting an implant, there are also health benefits to replacing your missing teeth.
Implants Help Protect Other Teeth
Dental bridges are designed to replicate the look and feel of natural teeth. The bridge is typically held in place with two crowns that are connected to the teeth next to the missing tooth. Before the crowns are added, the teeth are prepared. This requires the scraping of enamel and filing of the teeth.
Implants eliminate the need for a crown and damage to adjacent teeth. An implant is fused directly into the jawbone just below the gum line. The bridges or dentures are then connected to the implant. Suitable candidates for dental implants in Canberra require enough bone to support the implant.
Besides saving adjacent teeth from damage, an implant replaces the area left open by a missing tooth. The space left by a missing tooth provides the perfect spot for food debris to get stuck and increases the risk of infection, gum disease, and tooth decay near the roots of adjacent teeth.
Implants Help Prevent Bone Loss
Your teeth are necessary for helping to maintain healthy jawbones. As you chew your food, you are stimulating the jawbone and promoting the health of the bone structure.
With missing teeth, the bone tissue may start to break down, resulting in the permanent loss of bone. If the problem progresses, the lack of healthy bone may make implants impossible.
Implants Prevent Teeth from Shifting
Every tooth is important and helps keep other teeth in line. The gap left by a missing tooth provides room for adjacent teeth to shift. When the teeth shift, they may become permanently crooked. Shifting teeth also receive additional pressure that can cause cracks and teeth fractures.
Another risk of shifting teeth is temporomandibular joint and muscle disorder (TMJ). This is a dental condition that is often the result of strain on the jaw joint. TMJ is typically painful and may last for years without treatment. You may experience pain, tenderness, and trouble chewing.
Implants Allow for Normal Eating
When you have one or more missing teeth, you change the way you chew and talk. As you adapt to these changes, you may place more pressure one side of the mouth. This increases the risk of TMJ issues and may exacerbate existing problems.
Missing teeth can also change the way you eat. Besides chewing on one side of your mouth, you may skip meals or stop chewing properly. These issues and changes to your diet can impact the nutrition you receive and your overall health.
The use of dental implants offers more than an improved smile. When you replace one or more missing teeth with an implant, you are protecting the rest of your teeth and possibly preventing several dental issues. If you have avoided tooth replacement in the past, now may be the time to schedule a dental implant procedure.