By Dr. Marina Ambridge, DDS, FAGD
If you’re dealing with a broken tooth or more, we understand how frustrating it can be. While a tooth is a small part of our body, it plays many important roles. According to the American College of Prosthodontists, nearly 180 million Americans are missing at least one tooth. If you can’t grasp that number, let’s put it another way: that’s more than half of the population in the United States.
Wanting a long-term, permanent solution to missing teeth is completely understandable. Lucky for you, dental implants have quickly become a popular treatment and rightfully so. If you want to know about the several benefits that dental implants offer, then keep reading.
Dental Implants Look & Feel Like Natural Teeth.
Natural teeth enable a particular force when biting and chewing, and dental implants successfully mimic the same force. This is because dental implants are placed right into the jawbone, mimicking the root of a tooth, and making it the most comfortable option out there. Temporary tooth replacements, on the other hand, aren’t as effective when it comes to forceful biting or normal chewing.
You Can Rock a Great Smile.
If you have a broken, chipped, or missing tooth, it might pave the way for insecurities related to your appearance. It might become a hindrance to you openly smiling or laughing, which isn’t the way to live life. With dental implants, you’ll be able to restore your smile without feeling self-conscious. It’s about loving life, not just living it.
They Prevent Bone Loss & Protect Jawbone Health.
If gaps are left unattended, your body’s natural response is to reabsorb the jawbone and reallocate the nutrients to be used elsewhere. When a dental implant fills the empty space, it stimulates the jawbone the way a natural tooth’s root would. This helps prevent bone loss, keeps the jawbone intact, and protects the facial structure.
Everything’s Easier: The Eating & The Talking.
Simply put, dental implants will make your life easier. Let’s talk about eating, first. Dental implants are stable and robust, so they let you eat whatever you want. This also means that you no longer must avoid difficult-to-chew foods, such as apples or steak (yum, yum).
This, in turn, means you have a better chance of maintaining a balanced, healthy diet and enjoying a healthier life. So, it starts with something as tiny as a tooth but affects your entire body.
Now, let’s move to the talking bit. Teeth play a vital role in helping you pronounce words the right way (try saying the sentence: Freddy’s fantastic flip-flops felt fine). Since dental implants settle well in the jaw, they’ll help your speech and let words flow more naturally.
A Solution for Aging Teeth.
Bridges and dentures can only restore a certain number of teeth, whereas dental implants can be used to restore as many teeth as required. For instance, dentures require the removal of healthy teeth before they can be put into place. But dental implants create one root for each tooth, allowing you to replace as many missing teeth as needed without sacrificing healthy teeth.
They Improve Your Oral Health & are Incredibly Low Maintenance.
Gaps in your teeth tend to trap food and give birth to bacteria and infections, which can lead to gum disease. A gap also causes surrounding teeth to lose part of what was holding them in place. This might cause the teeth to tilt towards the open space or become loose over time. As a result, there is more risk for tooth decay and cavities.
With dental implants, not only the gaps are taken care of, but also the surrounding teeth. This means lesser exposure to bacteria, cavities, and tooth decay and a better chance at retaining more of your natural teeth.
Moreover, investing in dental implants makes you more likely to prioritize oral hygiene. Plus, they are easy to maintain and won’t require a lot of work on your part. With proper care, they can easily last you a lifetime.
It’s safe to say that dental implants are indeed worth the investment. The surgery is a standard, regular procedure with barely any pain. The aftercare is super manageable (it’s the same way you care for regular teeth), and the results are fantastic.
Most importantly, dental implants allow you to express yourself as freely as you want. There’s no more hiding that beautiful smile of yours, and for us, this reason makes it worth everything.
Dr. Marina Ambridge, DDS, FAGD, is a premier award winning dentist in Peoria. Learn more by visiting, awarddentistpeoria.com or calling 623-323-4238.
