Dental implants are a more effective than other teeth replacements, and here’s why
Tooth loss might be a common phenomenon as you age but it will impact your quality of life if you do not use the right kind of artificial device. More and more people are turning to dental implants in Herefordshire if suffering the misfortune of losing one or many teeth.
Maintain good oral health and gain back your confidence with our expert team at Warrendale Dental.
What makes dental implants better than dentures?
Dentures have been used for decades and have helped thousands of people, but these devices come with their set of limitations. Imagine a deep wound, to stop it from bleeding, you have to get to the source of injury, not slap a plaster on it.
In the same way dental implants in Herefordshire replaces missing teeth at its literal root, by drilling titanium posts on the jawbone. The embedded screw or post holds the crown in place, in much the same way as a root holds down a natural tooth.
Lifelong benefits
- Dentures have a shelf life of approximately five years, while implants if looked after correctly, can last you a lifetime.
- Implants are low maintenance and can be looked after similarly to a regular tooth, dentures require consistent cleaning, rinsing and soaking, and the use of an abrasive cleaning solution.
- You cannot remove implants; they are securely fitted into your gums, while dentures are removable and tend to fall out of place inconveniently.
How does a piece of metal fuse with the jaw bone
An orthopaedic surgeon in the 1950s discovered that titanium is a metal that the body identifies as tissue. Since then, titanium has been successfully used in a variety of surgeries, including dental implants.
The process in which a titanium screw – recognised as part of the body – fuses with real bone is called osseointegration.
Steps to getting a dental implant
Your first visit with us will assess whether you are a healthy enough candidate for implants. You must have enough available bone in which to drill implants, and have no gum disease, or diabetes. Being a non-smoker would work in your favour. While implantology is usually highly successful, being a person with low blood sugar and a smoker puts you at a disadvantage.
Bone augmentation
If you have suffered significant bone loss – usually a consequence of wearing dentures for an extended period, we will recommend bone graft surgery or a sinus lift to you. A graft surgery takes bone from the cheek or hip and transfers it to the jaw so that there is enough available bone to embed the implant.
Dental implants: stage one
We then drill a titanium screw, which is the implant, on the jawbone at the root of the missing tooth. Osseointegration, the biological process that bonds metal with bone, takes a couple of months to complete. In that time, we take dental impressions and create a crown that closely resembles the colour and shape of your neighbouring teeth.
Dental implants: stage two
Once the implant has fully healed, we place an abutment over it that connects the implant to your new artificial tooth.
Reclaim your smile, boost your confidence and improve the quality of your life with a tooth that works and feels like a real one by having your dental implant in Herefordshire.