Dental Implants have countless benefits. They can help you to eat better, feel better and look better. They are the closest permanent alternative to our natural teeth and are the most effective option to turn to after tooth loss.
As Dr. Balogh says:
“There are so many things in life that give us pleasure and enjoyment. However, as we age, we may, unfortunately, become ill or weak and be unable to enjoy those very same things, be it playing tennis, golf or even just going for a long walk/hike.
The ability to eat comfortably, to be able to eat the foods you want to eat, to feel comfortable eating and speaking in a social setting, and to be able to eat the type of foods necessary for good health may very well be one of the few enjoyments we have in our twilight years. Dental implants can provide that enjoyment.“
Do not let tooth loss due to injury, illness or oral health get in the way of enjoying life. Learn more about dental implants, and how you can benefit from the only permanent solution to real teeth.
What Are Dental Implants?
Dental implants are artificial tooth roots that are anchored into your jaw. By attaching a cap/crown onto the implant they act just like natural teeth and are the best alternative to tooth replacement.
After you have had a tooth pulled, or lost a tooth due to infection or injury, dental implants can seamlessly replace a lost tooth. Dental implants have a very high success rate and can last over 15 to 20+ years with the right care. Some of our patients have had their implants in place for over 25 years, and one, in particular, had her implants placed 38 years ago. Let’s explore the many benefits of dental implants.
Some of our patients have had their implants in place for over 25 years, and one, in particular, had her implants placed 38 years ago. Let’s explore the many benefits of dental implants.
10 Benefits of Permanent Implants
1) They Stabilize Your Mouth
When you lose a tooth or have a tooth pulled, you may not realize it but your other teeth can shift.
Without the stability of all of your teeth lined up against each other, keeping them in place, your teeth will move into the gap left by your old tooth. This can be problematic, especially after many years of teeth shifting which can cause trouble with your bite and potentially further tooth loss.
Even teeth that have had been orthodontically straightened can become crooked again once there is an open space for them to move into. Replacing the missing teeth with dental implants helps to maintain the stability of your healthy adjacent teeth so that they stay in place.
Implants stop long-term atrophy of your jaw bone as well. Whenever we lose a tooth, the bone will shrink in volume due to lack of use (stress being distributed to the bone)… much like our muscle mass shrinks when we stop exercising. This is typically time dependent…therefore the longer you have been missing the tooth the greater the volume of bone loss.
2) Reduce The Stress On Your Remaining Teeth
When you lose a tooth, you change the way you bite and chew the foods that you like to eat every day often times eating more on the opposite side or the front teeth if the back ones are all missing.
This can ultimately lead to excessive stress and pressure being placed on teeth that have formerly did not have to take on as much function. And if these other teeth are structurally weak due to fillings, bone loss from gum disease, root canals etc, then some people begin to experience shifting, looseness or even fracture of these other teeth that are now called to do more chewing.
Implants can take some of the load off by reducing the forces on adjacent teeth. You can use them like you would your regular teeth, as they are perfectly fitted to the size and shape of your mouth/teeth.
3) Regain Your Self Esteem And Look Younger, Naturally
When you lose a tooth, it not only affects the inside of your mouth, it also affects the outer appearance of your face.
Depending on how many teeth are missing, and where the missing teeth are in your mouth, your face shape can change dramatically.
If you are missing teeth from the sides of your mouth, your cheeks can appear sunken, as they move into the space where your teeth would be due to lack of soft tissue support.
Missing teeth in the front of your mouth can cause a lack of support for the soft tissue as well, hence your lips can appear thinner/flat and less full and it may accentuate parts of our profile. A
Implants will improve your smile, increase soft tissue support and ‘fill out’ your face, preventing cheek collapse and thinning of the lips.
4) Enjoy Your Favorite Foods Again!
Most people with missing teeth complain that they cannot eat certain foods, or enjoy food as they used to. With dental implants, it’s like having your full set of old teeth back. The implants are permanent and can endure the force and pressure that eating all different kinds of food can cause.
Improve your bite, your biting force, and taste sensation. Comfortably enjoy steak, apples, nuts. No more food trapped between dentures and gums!
5) Increase Your Digestion
People who are missing teeth can often face heartburn, indigestion, and in more severe cases, choking. They are unable to properly chew their food and can face severe consequences as a result.
Dental implants allow you to chew your food thoroughly. In order to digest our food properly it is important to be able to chew foods well. This eases the pressure placed on your digestive system as it will not have to strain itself to break down food.
6) No More Pain
Many people know that their can teeth become extremely sensitive to temperature, particularly cold. This can be a bite issue or related to gum recession or wearing of the enamel on the biting surfaces.
Implants, however, do not have a nerve like your other teeth. As a result, you will not experience hot or cold sensitivity or discomfort from an implant tooth!
7) Feel Secure
Implants today have a better long term prognosis than a crown or bridge on natural teeth. Mostly that is because implants do not decay, do not develop infections requiring root canals and hence do not fracture as teeth do after they have had large fillings etc.
Since they use titanium alloys which are very biocompatible – bone grows healthily right against the surface of your implant-the implant teeth feel very solid, even more, solid and secure than your natural teeth.
8) Feel Confident Speaking
You will no longer have to feel insecure about opening your mouth to speak with dental implants.
Our upper and lower front teeth are very important to form concise words and sounds. If some of these teeth are missing or we have teeth that are loose or poor fitting, it may affect our ability to speak clearly. In some cases, air can escape causing whistling, mispronunciation or lisping to occur.
So when you replace the missing tooth or teeth, your mouth will be better suited for speech as well as look good.
9) Reduced Surgery Time
Most implant surgeries are simple and procedures are often less than 90 minutes. These procedures can be done in the dental office as an outpatient; in some cases, people are able to return to work or regular activities that very same day.
The total treatment time is often ~4-5 months. The exact length of time varies considerably with each patient…it often depends on having good bone volume to begin with and other factors that can affect the progress.
In some cases, we can place an implant the same day that a tooth is removed, and in others, we can even provide a set of temporary permanent teeth (“teeth in a day”) at the time of surgery. You won’t have to worry about the long term effects of tooth loss with this quick procedure.
10) Maintenance Is Easy
For the most part, you can treat your dental implants just like your regular teeth. You simply brush twice a day and floss once per day to keep your dental implants clean and healthy.
And with a ~98% success rate after 10 years, you can feel confident your implants will last a long time and that you will get good value out of the procedure. Probably until we can perfect how to regrow natural teeth, implants will remain the best permanent solution to missing teeth
Come On In!
If you are considering dental implants, you are probably finding that it can be a big decision, especially if it involves several teeth or more than one arch. There are countless benefits to implants, however, we want to be sure that all of your questions are answered before you decide on whether or not the procedure is right for you.
If you have questions or concerns about how implant dentistry can benefit you, or how the procedure is performed do not hesitate to ask– we would be pleased to assist you and answer any further questions you may have! Call us today.