Benefits of Dental Implants

1. Prevent Bone Loss and Facial Shrinkage

When you lose teeth, your jaw bone begins to wither away and shrink. That’s because your jawbone needs to be stimulated by a tooth root, otherwise it begins to deteriorate. As much as 30% of your jaw’s thickness can be lost in the year following a tooth extraction. And for such cases, bone grafting (that is, adding bone to your jaw) may be necessary, especially if you are to get properly fitting dental implants.

And this deterioration affects neighboring teeth and facial structure. Perfectly healthy teeth that are adjacent to the missing tooth can often begin to collapse. The integrity of your mouth, from the mechanics of your chewing to the health of your gums and jaw, get compromised. And with more complications lead to more complex and costly procedures.

Dental implants can prevent this cascading worsening of complications. They protect your jaw from deteriorating and your face from shrinking. And more importantly, you can chew and breakdown your food, allowing for proper digestion to occur.

2. Avoid Sacrificing Healthy Teeth

When you lose a single tooth, you have three options: get a bridge, get an implant, or do nothing.  Each one has a cost attached to it.  With a bridge, you sacrifice healthy teeth adjacent to the missing tooth.  In addition, unfortunately, bridges can be a challenge to hygienically maintain.  As time passes, it’s common to replace or re-do the bridge, which will increase your chances of requiring a root canal with those sacrificed healthy teeth structure. 

On the other hand, dental implants don’t require you to sacrifice those healthy teeth.  You simply have to fix the area of treatment, which provides an additional benefit: stops your jaw bone from deteriorating.

And the third option, of not doing anything, has the consequence of potential collapsing of your adjacent teeth as well as the deterioration of your jaw bone.  This can open you up for much more costly intervention in the future.

3. Maintain Bite Force and Eat Freely

When you had natural teeth, the bite force at your molars where you do most of your chewing was about 150 to 250 psi (pound per square inch). However, the maximum bite force of an average denture wearer is less than 50 psi. Worse yet, after wearing dentures for over 15 years, your bite force can be reduced to 5.6 psi. And this is why eating with dentures is so difficult. Without enough bite force, it is difficult to chew your foods properly.

When you can’t chew well, you tend to eat fewer fruits and vegetables (since they require more chewing). You’re also more prone to experiencing gastrointestinal disorders from food you swallow that isn’t broken down properly. This leads to poor nutrient intake, which leads to an unhealthier body. Fortunately with dental implants, your natural bite force is maintained. This means you don’t have to forego any of the foods you enjoy.

4. Reconstruct a Healthy and Natural Smile

Dental implants are the perfect tooth replacement as the implant post mimics a tooth root, allowing for the bone of your jaw to stabilize.  And with a Brushwell restorative dentist, you’ll have a matching prosthetic crown to your original adjacent teeth, ensuring a natural look.  The craftsmanship provided at Brushwell Dental is unparalleled as our team of lab technicians and dentists are passionate about high quality work.  One of the best compliments we receive is that of not being able to tell that a tooth was replaced with an artificial prosthetic.  We make your teeth look natural and healthy.

5. Restore Confidence and Self Expression

With dental implants, you will be able to restore your ability to eat, speak, and smile with true freedom and confidence.  They provide you a life free from denture worries—you no longer have to be concerned about whether or not they’ll slip or loosen.  Additionally, you don’t have to deal with the inconveniences of dental pastes and dental visits for fitting adjustments.

6. Live Longer

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), people who maintain their natural teeth or have missing teeth replaced by fixed bridgework or teeth-supported dental implants, live 9.8 years longer than those who wear removable dentures or partials.  And the reason is simple: Seniors, who require good nutrition to remain healthy and strong, don’t consume the right amount of nutrients when they wear dentures.  The hidden cost of wearing dentures can be years of your life.

This article is intended to promote understanding of and knowledge about general oral health topics. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your dentist or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment.