Tooth loss is more common than you think, especially as you age. While you should do all you can to keep your natural teeth, you may experience an accident or decay issue that eventually costs you a tooth or two. At that point, you may be wondering if a dental implant is the right choice to replace it. Not only is a dental implant a great choice for replacing anywhere from one to all of your teeth, but it can also be better than even your real teeth in some ways. Learn the facts about today’s dental implants and how they can help maintain your smile and bite strength for the rest of your life.
How Dental Implants Are Similar to Real Teeth
Dental implants are actually similar to real teeth in many ways. A tooth consists of both the upper part that you see when you smile and a long root that reaches up or down into the bone of your jaws. The dental implant also has an upper section that resembles a natural tooth, which sits on top of a titanium post that is implanted in the gums and bonds to the jaw tissue just a tooth’s root. This means that both implants and teeth function quite similarly. You won’t want to bite down on a dental implant any harder than you would with a natural tooth, but you get nearly the same amount of strength and force thanks to the titanium post.
Can Dental Implants Be Better Than Real Teeth?
In some ways, you can enjoy even better results from dental implants than your real teeth. This is particularly true when you’re comparing a damaged or weakened natural tooth to the implant. When you have a tooth that needs a complete root canal or serious cavity repair, the dental implant may end up being stronger and more durable than the real tooth in the long run.
Bite Strength
You can maintain a steady bite strength by using dental implants rather than other options like crowns, bridges, or partial dentures. All of these fixtures are slightly weaker than natural teeth or implants, requiring you to chew with care and bite only softer foods where the dental repair has been completed. While you should still treat dental implants with care and don’t bite anything too hard or tough, you can restore bite strength by replacing a sore or damaged tooth with a strong implant.
Stain Resistance
Depending on the material used for crafting the upper portion of the dental implant, this kind of tooth replacement can resist staining and yellowing better than your natural teeth. This is especially true if you follow good practices for keeping your teeth white, such as quitting smoking and avoiding staining drinks like red wine and coffee.
Options for Repair
When your natural tooth is damaged, you’ll need quite a bit of work to stabilize the remaining material and keep it from experiencing further cracking or chipping. The dental implant also needs prompt repair if it’s damaged, but you’re not as likely to experience pain while waiting for the repair. You can have the upper portion removed so the post can be repaired as well, and in most cases, you won’t even need repairs to the post.
Cavity Resistance
Dental implants won’t get cavities, although you’ll still need to brush and floss around the device to keep the gum tissue healthy. This means you won’t have to deal with drilling or worrying about fillings in the tooth you replace with an implant. If you have a tooth that has experienced multiple cavities and is experiencing issues with loose fillings, you may want to replace it with a dental implant.
Replacement at Any Age
These tooth replacements are a good option for people of all ages who have missing teeth. If you lose a tooth as a teenager or a young adult, you can benefit from the stable and long-term installation of an implant just as much as an older adult.
Taking Care of Dental Implants
Dental implants need routine brushing and checkups at the dentist’s office every six months. Without proper care, these implants can still experience infection or rejection. Take care of your dental devices so they don’t develop problems. Since the practices are usually the same as those used for caring for natural teeth, you can treat a blended smile of implants and teeth without a lot of extra routines during the day.
Dental Implants vs. Crowns
Crowns and bridges are the two alternatives that people most commonly choose instead of dental implants. Both can preserve at least some of the natural tooth tissue by covering it with a protective layer of material over the top. However, crowns and bridges have much shorter lifespans than dental implants. A dental implant can last for multiple decades if you take care of it. In contrast, a bridge usually needs replacing after 5 to 10 years, while a crown may only last 3 to 5 years. Dental implants have better bite strength, are easier to clean around without damage, and look more natural than either of these two options.
Choose dental implants if you’re looking for a way to replace missing teeth with almost all the benefits of your natural teeth. Here at Camelot Dental Group, we can provide a single implant or install multiple posts to anchor an entire set of dentures to replace all of your natural teeth. Choose implants if they’re the right choice to meet your dental goals.
