We see plenty of people come through our doors every day with a number of different dental problems. While each problem can typically be fixed using several different treatments, there are some problems that are better treated with dental implants.
If you suffer from any of the following issues, it may be time to seriously talk to your dentist about your need for dental implants.
What Is a Dental Implant?
A dental implant is a titanium fixture that is placed directly into your jaw below your gum line to replace a damaged, decayed, or missing tooth. What makes them different? Unlike crowns or bridges, they do not require being anchored to other teeth in your mouth and fit seamlessly into your existing smile.
Signs You Need Dental Implants
You Have a Badly Cracked Tooth
Any good dentist will do their best to save and restore your natural tooth if it gets damaged. However, while some cracked or chipped teeth can be restored using a crown or veneer, sometimes the tooth is past the point of no return.
If that’s the case, your best bet is to replace it with a dental implant. Typically, these are teeth that have been cracked or chipped close to the gum line and therefore put you at risk for serious dental problems, such as nerve damage or tooth decay.
Your dentist will extract the bad tooth and replace it with a natural-looking dental implant to protect your gum and jaw.
You Have a Missing Tooth
Did a rough sports game or everyday accident knock out one of your adult teeth and leave you with a gap in your gums? Not good. Not only can missing teeth put you at risk for further dental complications, but they can make it much harder — and painful — to eat everyday foods.
A common, and serious, issue that accompanies missing teeth is a progression of tooth movement. Over time, your other teeth will move into the empty spaces in your gums, causing a number of gum and bone issues.
Installing dental implants can replace the missing tooth, prevent bone loss, and make eating much more comfortable.
Your Mouth Looks Sunken In
Perhaps you remedied a missing tooth or teeth with dentures. While they can typically do the trick, especially for older patients with multiple missing teeth, they also often give patients’ faces a sunken appearance, since your lips can wrap inward around your gums.
If you want to take years off your face and still have certain dental issues remedied, implants are a great alternative to dentures.
Your Dentures Don’t Fit Well
Maybe your face appears the same while you’re wearing your dentures, but you find that they’re slipping and sliding inside your mouth or just feel generally uncomfortable, talk to your dentist about swapping out your dentures for dental implants that are, quite literally, screwed into place so you don’t deal with any more discomfort.
You Experience Jawbone Loss
Over time, your jaw bone can start to wear away, leaving you with poor dental health and in pain. Since the implant is placed directly into your jaw it acts as the root and bonds easily with your gum line. This can help stimulate natural bone growth and therefore slow or stop the process of a deteriorating jawline.
You Have Issues Eating and Chewing
Do you consistently find yourself in pain when eating cold foods or trying to chew on something tough? Tooth sensitivity, teeth grinding, and TMJ, among other things, can make it difficult for you to chew and eat your favorite foods — and that’s not okay.
Some of these issues can be fixed by filling an unknown cavity or placing a crown over a problem tooth, but if the issue stems deeper or you’re in seriously severe pain, an implant may be the best option.
Sometimes the cavity is beyond repair and there’s simply no saving your tooth. If that’s the case, you’ll likely better benefit from having the tooth removed and replaced with a dental implant.
Trust Your Dental Implant to Smiles by Jiveh
At Smiles By Jiveh, we believe dental implants can change your life like no other procedure, giving you your confidence and beautiful smile back. We can assure you that technology has advanced so much that these procedures can be done faster and easier than ever before with minimal discomfort.
The information provided in this article is not meant to be medical advice and is for educational purposes only. If you would like to learn more about this and other dentistry-related topics, feel free to contact Smiles By Jiveh by clicking here or by calling (561) 798-9997.