Life benefits of dental implants: a guide to permanent tooth replacement
Dental implants are the only permanent way a dentist can replace your missing teeth. At Sheen Dental in Richmond our implant surgery is carried out by Dr Harmit Kalsi, who will provide you with a bespoke treatment plan for your implant placement and restoration.
Whilst traditional dental bridgework and standard dentures replace the crowns of missing teeth, they do nothing to address the issue of missing tooth roots. It’s the loss of the tooth roots that can lead to dentures becoming loose, because the jaw bone starts to resorb. You may experience common denture problems including:
- Alterations to your speech, or difficulty speaking/making yourself understood
- Sever restrictions on your diet, often only able to consume soft or liquidised foods
- Loss of confidence, particularly in social situations, as you fear your teeth may fall out
- Denture sore mouth – painful areas on the gums where your dentures have rubbed
Dental implants can prevent all of these problems, and can give you back your joy for life. They are placed in direct contact with your jaw bone under either local anaesthetic or sedation at our Richmond dental practice. Because they are made of titanium, they don’t just hold your teeth in position, they also encourage bone growth, thus alleviating the issues caused by bone loss.
If you have already experienced bone loss, there is no need to despair. At our Richmond practice Dr Kalsi offers a number of options designed to address the bone resorbtion issue so you can still have dental implants.
Richmond bone loss solutions are:
- Bone expansion
- Bone grafts
- Sinus lift
Once your dental implants are in place, osseointegration will start to take place, with bone growing around the artificial tooth roots. This will provide a very stable base for your new teeth, and will restore your ability to speak, smile, and socialise with confidence, as well as to eat what you want.
A recent survey showed the four foods most likely to make us smile were:
- Chocolate
- Roast dinner
- Curry
- Fried breakfast
By choosing dental implants you can enjoy all of these treats again – in moderation, of course!