Missing teeth make a person’s smile look less attractive and can cause problems with chewing and speech. When someone is missing one or more teeth, the appearance of their smile can negatively affect every area of their life. Thankfully, some solutions offer tooth replacement. Learning what dental implants are will help individuals discover how they can replace their missing teeth permanently.
What Is a Dental Implant?
When a tooth is missing in the mouth, the socket is left empty. A dental professional will insert a dental implant in this empty socket. Dental implants are titanium tooth root replacements. They permanently and securely hold a crown, allowing individuals to smile with confidence and enjoy eating a wide array of foods.
Dental implants are made of titanium because it is the only metal that will bond with human bone tissue. Once implanted, the body begins to grow new bone cells around the titanium implant. As the bone cells multiply, the dental implant becomes a permanent part of the jaw, acting just as a human tooth root.
What Causes Missing Teeth?
People of all ages can experience problems with missing teeth. Understanding the reasons a person may lose their teeth or be missing certain teeth is essential. The following are some of these reasons.
- Tooth decay is one of the primary reasons for a tooth to go missing. Decay eats away at a tooth. Eventually, the tooth can begin to loosen and fall out. Dental professionals extract teeth when they become severely decayed.
- Another reason a person may be missing a tooth is injuries. Blunt force trauma to the mouth can sometimes knock teeth out or break them.
- Sometimes, a person is born with a genetic condition that causes some teeth not to grow. This genetic condition is called ectodermal dysplasia, and it can affect the way a person’s smile forms.
What to Expect From the Procedure?
This dental implant procedure takes a couple or more dental visits and requires a surgical procedure. First, the dentist draws up a treatment plan that addresses the unique needs of the patient. The next step in the process is the implantation of the titanium post.
A dental professional implants a small titanium post into the jawbone where the tooth is missing. The implant will be given time to bond with the bone tissue, typically taking around twelve weeks. The next part of the process involves opening the gum tissue and adding an abutment. The abutment is essential for holding the crown in place.
Before the dentist places the crown, they will take X-rays and make impressions of the patient’s mouth. The goal is to achieve a perfect fit and ensure the new implant and crown blend well with the patient’s surrounding teeth.
Some patients opt to have an attachment placed on their implant rod. Dentists use these attachments to anchor denture plates. Unlike traditional dentures, these denture plates stay in place securely and offer superior chewing ability.
Schedule a Consultation
The first step in learning about the advantages of dental implants is to schedule a consultation appointment with the dentist. Through an examination, the dentist will discover if the patient is a good candidate for dental implants and then start designing the treatment plan.
Scientific studies, like this one on implants, indicate dental implants can last a lifetime. Once in place, the titanium rod never needs to be removed, and it will not fall out. With the addition of the dental crown, a dentist rejuvenates a person’s smile, allowing them to feel confident in smiling again and ensuring they can eat the foods they love.