How much do you know about dental implants? With the increasing popularity and availability of dental implant surgery worldwide, patients are gaining more and more knowledge about dental implants every day.
But did you know these five important facts?
- Dental implants are appropriate for almost all ages. Not just for the elderly, dental implants are frequently placed even in the mouths of young adults. As long as the jaw has stopped growing (after puberty; age 16 for girls and age 18 for boys), a dental implant can be placed with great success.
- The titanium post actually fuses (osseointegrates) with the natural jawbone. They grow together to form a stronger foundation for replacement teeth. So dental implants actually improve the bone structure in the jaw, they don’t just fill it in.
- The “dental implant” is actually just the titanium post, one of three parts of the whole process. Other parts used in the full procedure that we think of as “dental implant surgery” are known as the abutment (the connector) and the actual replacement tooth itself (the crown).
- Dental implants preserve jawbone, whereas other teeth replacement options can lead to bone deterioration. Bone is similar to muscle in that it must be used in order to maintain its mass. When a tooth goes missing and the site is left untreated, the jawbone underneath tends to deteriorate. Dental implants eliminate this problem by securing a natural-like tooth right into the jawbone and thus utilizing (and preserving) that area of bone.
- Dental implants protect their neighbors. By contrast, a traditional, tooth-supported bridge involves the grinding away of the teeth on either side to act as a hammock for the bridge. With dental implants, the jaw is the anchor and support for the artificial tooth.
The bottom line? Dental implants offer a safe and manageable alternative to traditional tooth replacement methods.