Missing one or more teeth can significantly affect your dental health. Over time, the gap left behind can make you feel self-conscious about your smile, and it can also cause other surrounding teeth to shift. Even if you’re missing a tooth that isn’t in a prominent place, there are many reasons why you should still replace it.
If you’re considering a dental implant for replacing a missing tooth, here are ten benefits you can achieve from this tooth replacement treatment.
#1: Implants Keep You Looking Young
Poorly fitting dentures or missing teeth can make your face look and feel older than you are. Missing teeth leads to bone loss, which can cause your face to change drastically over time. A compressed or shrunken jaw can lead to sagging skin, sunken cheeks and cheekbones, and drooping skin along the nose line.
#2: Quality of Life Is Improved
Missing teeth can greatly affect your quality of life, just as poor dental health can. A healthy smile helps you maintain confidence in professional and social situations. Simple things like smiling without your teeth or avoiding laughing can significantly impact your sense of well-being while also sending a negative message to those around you. Replacing missing teeth with dental implants is a great way to restore your self-confidence and boost your social life.
#3: They’re Easy To Care For
Unlike dentures which can require adhesives and frequent maintenance appointments, dental implants are cared for in the same manner as your natural teeth. Once your dental implants are in place, you will immediately feel less self-conscious by being able to eat, speak and laugh without worrying about your smile. Anything you can do with natural teeth, you can do confidently with dental implants.
#4: Implants Look and Feel Real
Many patients who are missing one or more teeth worry about how a dental implant will look and feel. The reality is, a dental implant is the most realistic tooth replacement option available. You will be able to enjoy the same secure structure as a natural tooth because the tooth is affixed to the implanted screw, so you can chew more easily and feel confident in your restored smile.
#5: Better Oral health
Your entire oral health is at risk while your mouth is missing a tooth. The left-behind gap allows other teeth to shift because they no longer have adequate support to hold them in place. Your smile and bite will begin to shift and change over time. This is problematic for several reasons, one of them being that if your bite is not aligned, it can lead to jaw pain and TMJ. Shifting teeth can also lead to bone loss and gum disease.
#6: You Don’t Need To Avoid Certain Foods
The ideal fit of dental implants makes it possible for you to continue to enjoy a healthy and balanced diet full of foods you otherwise may have had to avoid with other dental work. Foods like corn on the cob, ribs, and even biting into an apple are no longer off-limits with dental implants. Additionally, chewing foods is easier once certain teeth are no longer missing.
#7: Implants Don’t Affect Other Teeth
Dental bridges can affect the health of the adjacent teeth and put them at risk. Not only do bridges affect the tooth structure, but they can also compromise the health of your jaw bone because there is no stimulation. Implants are entirely independent, meaning they won’t cause other surrounding teeth to become damaged or loosen over time.
#8: Implants Are Comfortable
Dentures require adjustments, are high maintenance, and they’re also uncomfortable. Implants are custom-designed to fit your mouth perfectly, so as long as you take great care of them, they can last for a lifetime.
#9: Jawbone Stimulation
Bone loss occurs when your jaw structure doesn’t have proper stimulation. Healthy tooth roots stimulate the jaw, which keeps it strong and stable. If you are missing a tooth, your jaw starts to experience bone loss. Dental implants have titanium poles affixed to the jawbone and act in the same manner as a natural tooth to continue this essential stimulation.
#10: They’re a Permanent Solution
They may require more time and money upfront, but implants are a permanent tooth replacement solution. Other teeth replacement solutions require maintenance and replacement and depending on your age, this cost can add up over time.
To learn more about the many benefits of dental implants, schedule a consultation with Hinsdale Dentistry.