Implants Are a Long-Lasting, Functional Solution for Missing Teeth

Dental implants are a very, very good long-term method for replacing missing teeth. The dental implant itself is essentially an artificial tooth root. It lives in the bone where the tooth root used to live and then it's connected to what we call the crown. So most folks will never see their implant again after it's placed. It lives in the bone. It's covered up by the gums and that's it, just like a tooth root would be. You know, dental implants really influence your ability to maintain a quality of life. When you lose a tooth, a couple of things can happen. The bone in that area will start to thin. It will actually start to be lost. And the reason is because, well, the bone needs a tooth to stay there, and so if the tooth isn't there, you start to lose that bone. Other things that can happen teeth are friendly beings, they're looking for their neighbors. So when you bite, they want to touch the neighboring tooth. The bottom teeth want to touch the top teeth when you bite, and all of the teeth should touch. But also side to side, you know, if you have the tooth and space and a tooth, over time they're going to start to merge, and it's going to start to turn from being vertical to almost horizontal. Well, now you can actually put this tooth at risk of getting a cavity because you're trapping food underneath it. You could put it at risk of actually breaking or fracturing it, because now instead of it being in an upright position, now it's turning to the side. Now it's being experiencing forces that it's not designed to handle. And so in losing one tooth, you can almost put, say that the next tooth is also going to be at risk if it starts to move. So to preserve that space, to keep everything in its natural and harmonious balance, that's where dental implants can really help people either regain their ability to chew. It can help them regain their ability to smile with confidence. It can help them regain their quality of life. Dental implants are long-lasting. They are able to, with proper care, they can last you the rest of your life if they're well-maintained and well taken care of. And that's a pretty significant thing to be able to say, "Oh, I lost a tooth, but now I have it back and not only do I have it back, but the solution that I have if I take care of it, it's going to last me the rest of my life," that's very powerful for patients. We do a very brief but very thorough exam, and we're able to use our three-dimensional technology to figure out and identify any concerns that we may have with maybe the bone or with the adjacent teeth and then we'll get that taken care of. So what I recommend is to anyone who's thinking about or thinking that maybe implants might be an option for me or maybe I don't know, are implants is an option for me? If you want to know, we'll figure it out together.