Want to Know if Dental Implants Really Are Your Best Option?
April 26, 2019
Tooth loss isn’t something most people worry about until it happens, but even when it does, not everyone realizes the profound impacts it can have on their oral health. Most conventional dental prostheses, such as bridges and dentures, can address many of those concerns, including restoring your smile’s appearance and helping you regain some measure of your bite’s function. However, only dental implants have the ability to address the concerns related to losing your teeth roots. At our Kansas City, MO, dental office, we may suggest replacing your lost teeth with an appropriate number of dental implants to help you rebuild and preserve your healthy, natural smile more successfully.
Why Your Lost Teeth Roots Matter
Losing one or more teeth roots has several different effects on your long-term oral health, particularly the health and integrity of your jawbone. Every time you bite and chew, your natural teeth roots stimulate your jawbone. The intensity of this stimulation tells your body how much nutrition your jawbone requires to support itself and your teeth. Fewer teeth roots, and therefore, less stimulation, means fewer minerals and nutrients, which can lead to gradual jawbone erosion. While conventional bridges and dentures can restore your bite’s appearance and much of its function, only dental implants can replenish the stimulation that your jawbone requires to remain healthy.
How Dental Implants Address These Concerns
Dental implants are prosthetic posts that are made to mimic the roots of your lost teeth. Every post is strategically placed within your jawbone to support a custom-made restoration, such as a dental crown, bridge, or denture (depending on how many teeth you’ve lost). After your jawbone heals, the implants will rest within it permanently, serving as root-like anchors to hold your replacement teeth steady along your dental ridge. Because your jawbone heals around the posts, their stimulation when you bite and chew helps maintain your jawbone’s healthy flow of essential minerals and nutrients.
How to Qualify for Dental Implant Placement
Dental implants are versatile and biocompatible enough that most patients who experience tooth loss qualify for their placement. However, before recommending them as your best option, we’ll first thoroughly examine your teeth, gums, jawbone, and other oral structures to ensure that they’re healthy. For example, if you’ve lost a substantial amount of jawbone structure because you lost your teeth long ago, or if you still exhibit signs of uncontrolled gum disease, then you may need prerequisite treatment. We’ll need restore the rest of your oral health before recommending that one or more implants be placed in your jawbone.
Learn About the Benefits of Dental Implants
We take several things into account when rebuilding your smile, including the importance of losing (and replacing) the roots of your lost teeth. For more information, or to schedule a consultation, call Cosmetic & Implant Dentistry of Kansas City, MO, today at 816-427-4018.