Are Dental Implants Right For You?
Dental implants are a viable option for patients who have lost some or all of their teeth due to decay, disease or an injury and don’t like the idea of dentures or bridgework. Dentures or bridgework used to be the only other options available for people who had missing teeth and although these are still viable options that are available, they are problematic solutions at best.
Dental implants are designed to resemble your natural teeth and they are composed of two parts. The lower part is a screw that is made of titanium and this is the part that is surgically implanted into the patients jaw bone. The upper portion of the implant resembles your natural tooth and this is the only part visible in your mouth. If you can picture a tooth sitting on a screw you have a pretty good picture about what a dental implant looks like.
When it comes to dental maintenance dental implants need the same care and upkeep that your natural teeth need. You can brush them and floss them just as you would your normal teeth and with the proper care implants have been known to last the same lifetime as a natural tooth would. This is a big advantage over bridgework or dentures that require you to remove them at night and soak them in denture cleaner.
Another disadvantage you face with dentures or bridgework is the constant need to replace and refit them. These devices wear the jaw bone down and over time this leads to mis-fitting and misaligned orthodontics and this can cause dental slippage and painful mouth sores. Dentures or bridgework that doesn’t fit properly are painful and can make eating an uncomfortable ordeal.
‘Since dental implants are surgically implanted into your jaw bone they don’t wear the jaw bone down and they don’t require yearly re fittings and re alignments to work correctly. Implants can be surgically implanted and the only maintenance required of the wearer is the same maintenance they do on their natural teeth.
If you are considering implants you should schedule a consultation with your dentist to ensure you are a viable candidate for the procedure. There are only a few conditions that would rule you out as a good candidate for implants including the density of your jaw bone or being a smoker.
Your dentist will want to have a CT scan or MRI done to measure the thickness of your jaw bone. If your jaw bone is to thin,
the implants might not have enough bone to take root in and your doctor likely won’t see you as a good candidate for this option. And if you are a smoker your likelihood of success with implants decreases because smoking can cause your mouth to heal more slowly after surgery. A slower recovery can lead to a higher rate of complications and a higher rate for implant failure.
