If you’ve lost one or more teeth, you may be interested in learning your options for replacing them. While there are several, including dental bridges and dentures that can correct various tooth-loss needs, only one option addresses and corrects all of the compound problems that may result from a missing tooth. As implant dentists in Fresno, CA, Dr. Alex Denes and Dr. Claudia Denes advise you to consider the multiple benefits of receiving dental implants to support your dental restoration.
Chew and Speak Like Your Old Self
One of the greatest challenges of losing teeth is the diminished ability to chew your favorite foods and enunciate your words as clearly as before. Your teeths’ unique structure and arrangement provide the tools necessary to eat and speak properly, so when you lose one (or more), completing these functions can become complicated. Traditional dental restorations (i.e., dental bridges, full dentures, partial dentures, and crowns) help restore this function by bridging the gap created by the void. In fact, these dental prosthetics prevent further damage by stopping the remaining teeth from shifting to take up the slack of their missing brethren. If you already have dentures or a dental bridge, however, you may know that chewing and speaking aren’t exactly the same as they were with your real teeth. Supported by bases that rest on your gums, or by a device that requires adjacent teeth to be used as anchors, traditional tooth replacements do not restore the entirety of your tooth, and therefore are not as sturdy.
What is a Dental Implant?
What makes a dental implant more secure is the same reason behind its ability to make you look years younger by improving your smile. A dental implant is a small rod or screw that is inserted into your jawbone where the root of your old tooth once was. Made from biocompatible titanium, the screw becomes a part of your jaw as the bone fuses to its surface, surrounding and supporting it as it does your natural tooth roots. Once healed, the implant can support your dental restoration, and you will have successfully replaced your entire tooth, not just the visible part.
Halt the Advanced Aging Process Following Tooth Loss
When you replace missing teeth with dental implants, you also help halt one of the most devastating effects of tooth loss—facial collapse. Chewing stimulates the roots of your teeth (that remain), which signals your body to send your jawbone nutrients to support these teeth. Losing a tooth and its root results in fewer nutrients sent to your jaw, which will eventually cause bone loss. If your jawbone atrophies, further tooth loss is inevitable as the bone loses its ability to hold them in place. As a prosthetic tooth root, a dental implant is also stimulated by chewing, and the body continues its nutrient supply as before, preventing the prematurely-aged look of jawbone deterioration and facial collapse.
Call us Today
To learn more about the benefits of dental implants over traditional tooth replacements, or to schedule a consultation, contact your Fresno family dentists by calling Fresno Dental Studio at (559) 297-1800. Located in the 93720 area, we proudly serve patients from Fresno, Clovis, Mendota, Orange Cove, Reedley, Selma, and the surrounding areas.