Dental implants: the best way to replace missing teeth?
Dental implants are a thoroughly modern solution to tooth loss. At Warrendale Dental Care in Ross-on-Wye, our skilled implants team can use these bionic tooth roots to support a single crown, a dental bridge, or full set of dentures – giving you back all the functionality and appearance of a set of natural teeth.
The key difference between dental implants and traditional tooth replacement options – dentures or bridges – is that implants are the only way your dentist can replace the roots of your teeth. Placed in direct contact with your jaw bone during a small operation, which most people only require local anaesthetic for at our Ross-on-Wye dental practice, they begin to integrate with your bone straight away.
This process of osseointegration takes approximately six months to fully complete, after which permanent new teeth – be they a denture, a bridge, or a single crown – are attached. Depending on your clinical situation your Ross-on-Wye dentist may fit you with temporary teeth during this healing and integration period or, if you currently wear a denture, your dentist may adjust it so you can continue to wear it during healing.
Once your new teeth have been attached to the abutments on top of your dental implants, they should last you for many years. Just like natural teeth, they require excellent oral hygiene and regular trips to the dentist and hygienist here at our Ross-on-Wye clinic in order to prevent plaque building up on your new teeth, potentially leading to gum disease, which can have serious consequences for dental implants if not treated promptly.
Fortunately, it’s no harder to clean teeth attached to dental implants than it is to clean natural teeth. Your Ross-on-Wye hygienist will help you to develop an effective brushing routine, particularly important if gum disease or poor oral hygiene caused your tooth loss in the first place.
As well as keeping your teeth secure and functional in your mouth, dental implants also help to keep your jaw bone healthy and strong. This prevents it from shrinking back – a common consequence of multiple tooth loss – which can alter the structure of your face.