Why Are Dental Implants So Popular?
Anyone who has lost one or more teeth for whatever reason will likely start to contemplate his or her options as to replacements. For some patients dental implant surgery is the prevailing choice because they offer multiple benefits over other alternatives such as bridgework or dentures.
In fact, dental implants are so popular because they offer a permanent solution to the problems that come with missing teeth such as restoring your smile and your facial structure.
But these are just some of the reasons for their popularity, the more you learn about implants and how they work, you too may decide that dental implant surgery is the preferred choice.
How Dental Implants Work
A dental implant is composed of a small post that is surgically implanted into your jawbone beneath the gum line. Once the post is secured into the jaw, an artificial tooth is then attached to it.
This replacement tooth is designed to look, feel, and function just like the rest of the natural teeth in your mouth. When you smile, no one will notice a difference unless you tell them.
Even then, they will have to look real close inside of your mouth to figure out which one it is. The replacement blends in almost exactly with respect to appearance and shape.
Why Implants?
Implants are the popular choice over other alternatives like a bridge or dentures for many reasons.
First and foremost, many patients appreciate that implants are a permanent option whereas a bridge or a denture can pose potential risks to your smile, the way you speak, your facial structure, even the way you eat.
Bone loss is also a big concern. Longevity is a component of a dental implant surgery as opposed to a bridge which has a usual life span of just ten years.
After that time, you will need to get a new bridge built and fitted to your mouth again. No one wants to repeat this process and pay for it all over again once a decade.
With an implant you have the work done only once and pay for it just the one time. As for dentures, they can come loose if your adhesive fails, interfering with your speech and your ability to eat.
Dentures can also shift in place and come loose, causing oral discomfort or even injury. Many people will choose implants instead simply because they are unable to wear dentures without feeling some form of pain due to sharp edges or soreness from wearing them over extended periods of time.
Both dentures and bridges have other potential risk factors, many people who have a highly sensitive gag reflex are unable to put these devices in their mouth.
In the case of bridges, dentists in Richmond VA will need shave or ground down surrounding teeth to properly fit you for the appliance, as these teeth act as the anchors for bridgework.
Why change the shape of perfectly healthy teeth just to replace one or two that are missing? That doesn’t make a lot of sense.
