Dental Implants

Dental implants are used to replace a missing tooth as an alternate to dentures, bridges, partials, or nothing at all. The implant per se is a small screw placed into the jaw to act as a segregate root. Then after some healing, a crown or dentures are fused onto the implant(s). Implants are better than topical bridges or dentures and certainly far superior to not doing anything at all as the neighboring teeth can move and the jaw can begin to lose bone. Sometimes a dental implant’s sole purpose is to prevent movement of the surviving teeth. Dentures without implants often move, require the patient to avoid certain foods and chew a certain way, make the wearer self conscious, and are cumbersome to take out night after night. Bridges, which is a single prosthetic tooth bounded by the two filed down neighboring teeth which could be healthy, don’t fare much better in the hassle departments. With a bridge the wearer has to use special instruments for hygiene and cannot floss the traditional way. The dental implant, the closest thing to having a natural tooth, does not require special hygiene or flossing techniques.

Dental implants are still esoteric to the average patient. However, a wealth of information can be gathered on the internet about the procedure and surgeon. Since a dental implant is a lifelong investment, patients should be methodical in their research in planning for one.