How Dental Implants Can Help Your Jaw and Face

Did you know that dental implants can have a profound impact on the quality and health of your jaw? For many years, dental implants have been used as a way to replace teeth that have been lost. As the most innovative and permanent way of resolving the issue of tooth loss, implants have a plethora of benefits associated with them. Not the least of these is the fact that they can help your jawbone sustain and even grow.

But why do people need to replace their lost teeth anyway? There are a number of reasons why people have chosen to replace their teeth. The first is appearance and how unsightly it is to have a gaping hole where there once was a tooth. The second is functionality. Teeth influence what can be eaten, by virtue of being a tool for biting and chewing. A loss of teeth can quickly change a persons' lifestyle. Additionally, teeth are used in enunciation, so the loss of a tooth can influence how we speak as well.
Dental implants are superior to alternative solutions.
Dentures are effective as a replacement for lost teeth but do not address all of the issues. Dentures do not provide any support or stimulation to the jawbone. They also need to be fitted in the mouth using a chemical denture adhesive. Finally, there is always the risk of showing up for a fancy dinner and realizing you left your dentures on the nightstand. With bridges, there are many of the same problems except we have to add the inconvenience and discomfort of clasps and hooks to the equation. Dental implants are surgically implanted and once the tooth or crown, is in place you never have to treat it any differently that you would a natural tooth.
What else do dental implants do?
Today's dental implants are manufactured out of titanium with the sole purpose of ensuring that they synthesize with the body perfectly. Titanium can bond with organic material perfectly through a process known as osseointegration. When used in an implant, this convinces the body that the tiny implant screw is actually the same as a natural tooth root and needs to be treated as such. The implant and the attached crown provide stimulus to the jawbone which is essential for its survival.
The jawbone serves one primary purpose, from the body's perspective, and that is to support and secure the teeth. The teeth act as stimulants, providing the jawbone with stimulation every time that you bite or chew. This stimulation is what the body uses to know that the jaw is doing its work. When you lose a tooth, however, the stimulation stops, and the body is convinced that the jawbone no longer has a mission. The body then responds by starting a process known as resorption, whereby it starts to leach minerals like calcium away from the jawbone which will start to deteriorate. A healthy jaw is essential for the facial structure of a human being, which is why we recommend titanium implants that act like teeth and cause the body to restore the jawbone to its original state.

Cosmetic Dentistry  >  Oral Surgery