If you think dentures are the only way to replace your missing teeth, then chances are you’ve never heard of dental implants. This exciting procedure is exactly what it sounds like: they’re false teeth that are surgically put into a person’s mouth where teeth are missing. Although dentures are a perfectly fine solution to the problem of missing teeth, dental implants offer several key advantages.
Here are just a few.
They Allow You to Chew Your Food Better.
Implants can allow you to chew your food better, and speak more clearly than with dentures, which can slip and slide. Studies have shown that in comparison to full dentures, implants can improve a person’s chewing efficiency, and speaking.
They’re More Aesthetically Appealing.
Implants are far more aesthetically pleasing than dentures are. In other words, they look better. Implants look more natural than dentures, which means you can smile with even more confidence. Plus, they can prevent the changes made to your face from missing teeth. Usually, the teeth surrounding an empty space slowly move to try to fill in the gap, which makes them harder to clean and increases the risk of some oral diseases. What’s more, a person’s jawbone begins to atrophy where a tooth is missing, because there’s not enough stimulation there. Implants prevent this from happening by putting in an artificial root.
They Last Longer Than Dentures.
Best of all, implants last longer than dentures. With proper care, dental implants can last for more than two decades, and won’t need to be replaced. Long-term data also suggests that implants last for a much longer time than conventional dental restoration. Just be sure to take care of them, that is.
Dental implants, which have a success rate of up to 98% according to scientific literature, are the replacement teeth of the future. Up to 3 million Americans have dental implants, and another 500,000 get them each year. Consequently, the U.S. dental implant and prosthetic market is projected to reach $6.4 billion by 2018.
If you’d like to know more about dental implants , or other cosmetic dentist procedures, feel free to share your questions in the comments.