You may have encountered a lot of advertising about dental implants as one of the most exciting dental advances since the dawn of the profession. If you're still considering why or when you would need dental implants for your smile, consider these five factors that make dental implants well worth considering.

1. The Embarrassment Factor

Some types of oral surgery that include tooth extraction don't necessarily require you to seek out a replacement. In the case of wisdom teeth removal, for instance, you're getting rid of extra, unnecessary teeth that only crowd your other molars and cause painful impactions.

But if your dentist extracts a particularly visible tooth toward the front of your mouth, you may feel too embarrassed about the resulting gap to open your mouth in public, or be afraid your bridge will slip at the wrong moment, causing you to slur, hiss, or click as you talk

Dental implants become part of your mouth's permanent landscape, and they look just like real teeth. When you're looking at a missing front tooth, those are two major reasons to breathe easier.

2. The Bone Loss Factor

Did you know that losing teeth will also cause you to lose bone in your jaw? It's true. Even if you wear dentures to camouflage the state of your mouth, your jawbone will thin due to the lack of constant stimulation from embedded tooth roots. As your jawbone gets smaller and smaller, your facial structure will alter.

Dental implants will be fused directly to the jaw, stimulating the bone to prevent this deformation.

3. The Dinnertime Factor

Eating is one of life's great pleasures—unless you're trying to eat with a mouthful of dentures. These prostheses are certainly more effective than "gumming" your food, but they only supply a fraction of the chewing efficiency associated with real teeth.

Implants, on the other hand, allow you to chew just as well as you always did, if not better. Easier chewing means better digestion, which in turn leads to better overall health.

4. The Hygiene Factor

Removable dentures must be be cleaned with special cleansers or soaked overnight, an extra annoyance when you just want to get on with your life or go to sleep.

Dental implants can be flossed, brushed, and otherwise cared for just like real teeth. In fact, it's important that you keep up your regular dental hygiene practices, even though the implant is immune to cavities, so that the surrounding gums and bone will remain healthy.

5. The Cost Factor

It's true that dental implants cost more up front than dentures—but in the long run, they should actually prove more cost effective. That's because they're designed to last for decades, while dentures have to be re-lined or remade every few years. You can have an entire row of teeth, the equivalent of an upper or lower denture, permanently affixed to your mouth with just a few dental implants.

Ask cosmetic dentists or oral surgeons such as New Image Cosmetic & Family Dentistry whether implants are a smarter choice for your needs than other forms of tooth replacement.

Share