Why Dental Implants Are the Gold Standard in Replacing Teeth
Sep 13, 2024
Up to 178 million Americans have at least one missing tooth. Unfortunately, this increases the risk of more serious oral health problems, such as gum disease and bone loss. Traditionally, missing teeth were replaced with removable oral prosthetics, like dental bridges and dentures. However, in recent years dental implants have become the gold standard for replacing teeth.
At Creative Dental of Syosset serving Syosset, Oyster Bay, and Plainview, New York, experienced dentist Timur Mozner, DDS, specializes in dental implant placement and restoration. Here, we explain dental implants and highlight their many benefits.
Dental implants are small titanium screws that replace your natural tooth roots. They’re inserted into your empty tooth sockets during an outpatient procedure and integrate with your jawbone afterward.
After the implant fuses with your jaw, it provides a strong foundation for dental restorations, such as crowns, fixed bridges, and implant-retained dentures.
Dental implants are considered the gold standard for replacing lost, damaged, or extracted permanent teeth for several reasons, including:
Dental implants look, feel, and function like your natural teeth. Since they’re anchored to your jaw, they don’t change position or affect your speech, like dentures.
Dr. Mozner takes great care to ensure your implant restorations mimic the color and shade of your remaining permanent teeth. This attention to detail guarantees your smile looks healthy and natural.
Removable dentures last 5-10 years on average, so they need regular replacement. This process is time-consuming and expensive and can leave you without a natural-looking smile for weeks or more while a denture lab creates your replacements.
Dental implants, on the other hand, often last decades. If you brush and floss regularly and visit your dentist for preventive care, they may even last a lifetime.
After you lose a tooth to trauma or extraction, the bone beneath undergoes significant changes. Without the stimulation provided by biting and chewing, your bone deteriorates through a process called dental resorption.
A missing tooth also leaves a gap in your smile. This can affect your confidence from a cosmetic perspective as well as provide the perfect environment for harmful bacteria to thrive. As more bacteria collect, they increase your risk of gum disease and further tooth loss.
Filling the gap (or gaps) where your permanent teeth used to be with dental implants preserves your jawbone, keeps bacteria at bay, and restores your smile.
Undergoing dental implant surgery might seem intimidating, but it’s a safe and proven procedure. Although complications can occur after any operation, 90-95% of dental implant patients report positive outcomes.
It’s normal to experience mild swelling, pain, and bleeding following implant placement, but these symptoms typically improve within a week.
About 30% of denture wearers report slurred speech and difficulty enunciating words containing the letters “s” and “t.” This may not seem like a big deal, but if your job requires public speaking or making presentations, you might feel self-conscious or embarrassed.
Since dental implants anchor dental restorations to your jaw, there’s no risk of them changing position or sliding around like dentures. You can speak confidently and clearly.
Whether you’ve recently lost a permanent tooth or are tired of wearing dentures, dental implants can help. After an oral exam, dental X-rays, and a discussion of your goals, Dr. Mozner can make personalized treatment recommendations.
Call our office in Oyster Bay, New York, or use our online booking feature to schedule a consultation today.