Dental implants are widely considered by dental professionals to be the best option for replacing missing teeth. They are used to support crowns, bridges and restorations.
Benefits of Dental Implants
The Modern Solution for Replacing Missing Teeth
Dental implants are widely considered by dental professionals to be the best option for replacing missing teeth. They are used to support crowns, bridges and restorations.
What is a Dental Implant?
A dental implant is a titanium post that is inserted into the jawbone to replace the root of a missing tooth. Implants are connected to restorations (an artificial tooth or teeth) with an attachment called an abutment.
Benefits and Advantages of Dental Implants
Dental Implants Behave Like Natural Teeth
One of the biggest advantages of an implant is that it restores full chewing power. Most patients can’t tell the difference between their natural teeth and the implant tooth. They can eat with it completely normally and can brush and floss normally as well.
Dental Implants Can Last A Lifetime
A dental bridge is one solution for replacing a missing tooth, but a bridge may only last 5 to 10 years or so. Dental implants, however, if placed correctly and cared for properly, can last a lifetime. The implant is made from titanium and integrates with the jawbone. It is bio-compatible, meaning that it isn’t harmful to or rejected by the body.
Dental Implants Prevent Bone Loss
When a tooth is left missing, the jaw bone in the empty space deteriorates due to lack of stimulation. If no implant is placed in the first year of losing a tooth, that bone area loses 25% of its volume, and bone loss continues over the years. Dental implants keep the jawbone stimulated and helps prevent bone loss.
Dental Implants Keep Adjacent Teeth Stable
The gap from a missing tooth can cause adjacent teeth to shift towards the gap. This can affect your bite, your ability to chew and your appearance. A dental implant used to replace a missing tooth fills the gap so that adjacent teeth won’t shift out of place.
Dental Implants Prevent Bone Loss
Bone loss can cause the lower third of the face to start to collapse and gradually reduce the distance between the tip of the nose and the chin. This can cause excess wrinkles around the mouth, thinning lips and a more pointed chin, making the person look a lot older than his or her true age.
Meet Our Doctors
Our doctors provide experienced, comprehensive care with kindness and compassion.
Sid Parker, DMD
Dr. Parker gets rave reviews from his patients and his peers. He is known for his kind and gentle touch, friendly, easy-going manner, and his genuine concern for his patients’ well-being. Many patients warmly address him as “Dr. Sid”, and others have called him their hero. He is often referred to as a “perfectionist” by patients and peers alike.
Jeff Pennington, DMD
While attending high school, Dr. Pennington worked at Radenco Dental Lab in Millen, Georgia. He continued to work at dental labs while pursuing his Bachelor of Science at Georgia Southern University, which reinforced his appreciation of the skilled craftsmanship that is required to create lifelike dental restorations.
Dental Implants vs. Dental Bridges
A bridge consists of a false tooth (or teeth) supported by adjacent teeth that have been capped. It is used to replace one or two missing teeth.
A bridge requires two healthy teeth to be altered, which is not an ideal way of replacing a missing tooth compared to a dental implant. A dental implant does not require healthy adjacent teeth to be altered at all.
Also, bridges tend to have short lives of about five to ten years, compared to a dental implant, which can last a lifetime. So, while a bridge can sometimes be more economical at first, in the long run, a dental implant can cost you less.
Who are candidates for Dental Implants?
Denture wearers, or people who have had missing teeth for a long time, suffer from bone loss due to lack of normal stimulation from chewing. In the past, people with insufficient bone have been refused dental implant treatment. Now, with advanced bone grafting technology, plus the ability to locate available bone through 3D imaging, the majority of people can receive implants, regardless of the present volume of bone.
People with certain health conditions, such as diabetes, or habits, such as smoking, were previously considered not to be good candidates for implants because of the potential risk of implant failure or infection. With recent developments in technology, many of these people can now benefit from dental implants.