You might have heard about dental implants as a replacement for missing teeth but you may not have heard about the many advantages they offer over other types of treatment.
Having a knocked out tooth or losing a tooth to decay is not a pleasant experience. Firstly, you have all the pain and discomfort but then comes the anxiety that your teeth will never be the same and that a lifetime of dental repair and sacrifice awaits. This may be the case with some other forms of dental prosthetics such as dental bridges, which have an average life span of between ten and twenty years and are prone to breaking, but a dental implant offers the most realistic alternative to a real tooth.
Dental implants are the only kind of dental replacement that offer a complete substitute for the whole tooth from the root to the crown. The implant itself is anchored into the jawbone to simulate a real tooth root. This is then allowed time to fuse with the bone and gum tissue, again like a real tooth would be, before the artificial crown is attached. The results of dental implants are very successful and they are one of the most reliable dental procedures available. With the right care and cleaning, an implant can last a whole lifetime leaving you free from the worry of replacing it or having to adjust your lifestyle around it.
Implants may cost slightly more than other replacements but because they last a lifetime the one-off payment now will probably end up saving you money in the future, and can you really put a price on having healthy teeth. It would seem not as more and more patients at Central Leeds dentists opt for dental implants to replace their missing teeth
What is a dental implant?
What is a dental implant and how can I benefit from one? That is a question that a dentist in Leeds is asked a lot. He explains it as an artificial tooth that has all the qualities of a natural one, but with some vast improvements that are unique to the patient. The sort of teeth he usually replaces with implants are either damaged beyond repair, discoloured or misshapen teeth. It is ideal for a patient who requires an individual or a few separate teeth replaced. The procedure is quite simple too; first X-rays are taken to ascertain the strength of the jaw bone below or above the rogue tooth. Then a tooth is made to fit perfectly into the gap left by the removal of the damaged tooth. A drilled hole is made in the jaw and a base is placed in the hole. This has a pre-prepared screwed insert running up the centre, into this is screwed and glued the new tooth, how easy is that? It not only provides the patient with better eating habits, it has a tendency to also give them back some confidence they might have lost through the rogue tooth. An improved and confident smile is one of the first benefits; it also alleviates the need to replace a whole row of teeth for the sake of a few bad ones. False teeth are O.K. in most cases and patients adapt to them really well, but implants are the definitive answer in a lot of cases that in the past would have resulted in more expensive, and long term treatment. Chewing has also been reported by patients to have been drastically improved in many cases, and that in itself is a healthy improvement against decay and gum disease.
There are many reasons why people loose teeth. It could be due to a dental trauma, possibly as the result of a sporting injury, through tooth decay or even just due to old age. Whatever the reason, missing teeth can have serious negative aesthetic and health related consequences.
A missing tooth that has been caused by decay or has been knocked out in an accident can not only be cause of embarrassment but can also cause further dental complications if not replaced. Existing teeth tend to lean into empty spaces in the toothline causing sagging of the facial tissue and complications that can alter bite and profile. A missing tooth can also allow bacteria to develop on food particles that become lodged in the recess. This develops into