Dental implants are a great way to improve your oral health. You may be wondering what makes dental implants so much better than traditional dentures or bridges. The answer is that they are able to replace teeth, preserve the jawbone, and allow for proper nutrition. In this blog, we will discuss how dental implants can benefit your oral health in each of these ways.
Replacing Problematic Teeth:
One of the biggest benefits of dental implants is that they are able to replace problematic teeth. If you have a tooth that is severely damaged or decayed, a dental implant may be the best solution for you. This is usually the case when the affected tooth poses a threat to the gums or surrounding teeth and should be extracted. While traditional dentures or bridges are other tooth replacement options, they can oftentimes be uncomfortable or difficult to use. Dental implants, however, are able to provide a natural-looking and comfortable solution to replacing one or more missing teeth.
Filling in Gaps:
Another oral health benefit of dental implants is that they allow you to fill in the gaps left by missing teeth. Not only will this make your smile look better, but it will maintain the health of your remaining teeth. If you are missing one or more teeth, it may be difficult to properly chew and grind food which can cause additional stress on your other healthy teeth. In addition, the surrounding teeth will start to shift in order to fill in the gap left by a missing tooth. When this happens, it can alter the entire alignment of your bite. An uneven bite stresses the teeth, as well as the jaw, and increases the risk of multiple problems.
Preserving the Jawbone:
One of the biggest problems with missing teeth is that the jawbone is no longer stimulated by chewing, which can cause significant bone deterioration over time. Dental implants help preserve this much-needed bone mass by acting as the tooth root and providing stimulation to the jawbone to prevent it from shrinking. This is especially beneficial because it will maintain healthy teeth and an individual’s facial structure. Unfortunately, traditional dentures and bridges only restore the visible portion of the tooth and cannot provide the same type of stimulation.
Allowing for Proper Nutrition:
Lastly, dental implants can also help with proper nutrition. If you are missing teeth, it may be difficult or uncomfortable to eat certain foods, which can lead to any number of health problems. In some cases, people with dentures may even eat a “denture diet”, which is mostly composed of soft, starchy foods that lack proper nutrition. By using dental implants as tooth replacements, you will be able to eat and enjoy just about any type of food. This allows you to maintain a healthy diet that will benefit both your oral and overall health.
Dental implants are a great way to improve your oral health by replacing problematic teeth, filling in gaps, preserving the jawbone, and allowing for proper nutrition. If you’re considering dental implants as an option to replace missing or damaged teeth, keep these benefits in mind so that you can make an informed decision about what is best for your personal needs.
