Tooth loss can have devastating and wide ranging negative effects for a patient’s smile: from loss of confidence, to damaged bite alignment, to additional tooth loss. Our Toluca Lake dentists provide the restorative treatments that patients need to restore their smiles and minimize their risks of developing long-term oral health issues related to tooth loss. The most state-of-the-art tooth replacement treatment available today is the dental implant. Keep reading to learn more about how the dental implant works, and why it is so popular among patients and dentists.
A dental implant is a replacement tooth that is embedded in the patient’s jawbone tissue. So, the “root” of the replacement tooth—a small titanium screw—extends into the patient’s jawbone tissue, just like a natural tooth root does.
Over time, the titanium root of the implant actually bonds with the patient’s natural jawbone tissue. As you would imagine, this results in an exceptionally secure, and permanent, replacement tooth. This is why it’s so simple, and natural, to eat, drink, and speak with dental implants.
So far we’ve been talking about individual dental implants: a single restoration held in place with a single titanium screw. However, our team also uses implant roots to secure larger dental prostheses, like dentures. In these cases, our dentist places a few dental implant roots in strategically selected spots along the patient’s jawline. Then, we permanently attach the denture to these implant roots in order to restore the patient’s smile.
Over the years, our team has found that restorative patients love dental implants because they are easy to live with, and allow patients to speak naturally and eat normally. Plus, they’re simple to care for; you’ll simply clean your smile as you normally do and keep up with your schedule of professional cleanings in order to maintain your restored smile.
If you are dealing with tooth loss, our Toluca Lake dental implant dentists encourage you to seek treatment as soon as possible; timely care can make all of the difference for your long-term oral health. Give us a call to learn more!