When you have missing teeth, whether it’s a single lost tooth or the total loss of your teeth, dental implants can help. These are strong, lifelike, and have the potential to last for years to come. In today’s blog, your Kansas City, MO, dentist talks about how dental implants offer optimal tooth replacement.
The Impact of a Missing Tooth
When you lose natural teeth, this could leave behind embarrassing gaps that make you feel uncomfortable. In addition, they could also cause surrounding teeth to move from position, causing dental misalignment as well. Strained jaw joints and imbalanced bites brought on by missing teeth could also lead to painful complications like TMJ disorder and bruxism. But the most severe issue is the loss of mass and density in the jawbone. The body suspends or diverts the flow of calcium and phosphorus to the jawbone once it registers a missing root, meaning the bone around the lost root no longer gets these essential nutrients. This causes the tissue to break down, causing further tooth loss and even an aged appearance.
Dental Implants
Dental implants can fill the gaps in your smile, but also prevent the loss of mass and density in the jaw. The implant portion, the one we insert into the jaw, is made from biocompatible titanium. This means the body accepts it as a natural root. It bonds with the jaw through osseointegration, and has the potential to last for decades to come. We can use them to address one lost tooth, or support a bridge or even a fixed denture. They boast a 97% success rate, and look and function like natural teeth.
Placement and Restoration
To begin, we will use digital technology to carefully examine your smile, identifying the positions of nerve tissues and sinus cavities, and assessing the best angle and position to insert the posts. We guide them into place with digital surgical guides. Once the placement area heals, we will attach an abutment to the post and then secure the restoration. For individual ones, we attach a custom crown that looks natural and is crafted from durable materials. For more severe cases, we could use several posts and abutments to secure a bridge, or a fixed denture that never slips or requires removal for cleaning and soaking.
If you have any questions about handling your tooth loss with implant dentistry, then please contact our team today to learn more.
Your Kansas City, MO, Dentist Offers Lifelike Tooth Replacement
Our team wants to help you enjoy a full and beautiful smile again. If you would like to learn about our lifelike dental prosthetics, then contact your Kansas City, MO, dentist, Dr. Murphy, by calling (816) 531-8000.
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