Replacing lost teeth is more than simply vanity; it is an active step in restoring your mouth’s proper function. Your ability to bite, chew, and speak clearly diminish with every tooth lost, and replacing them can help improve your overall quality of life after suffering tooth loss. With today’s advanced dental materials and techniques, tooth loss can be addressed efficiently, even if you’ve lost most or all of your teeth on one or both of your dental ridges.
As a concept that has survived perhaps thousands of years, dentures are well-known for their ability to restore the loss of dentition. Yet, like most things, there is still room to improve on the traditional design. As an alternative to dentures, your dentist may recommend dental implants—a more complete restoration than your traditional variety.
What Dental Implants Do
Typically, restorations such as partial/full dentures and dental bridges focus on replacing the functional part of your tooth above the gum line, called the crown. Until dental implants, no replacement option could restore your tooth’s foundation—the roots. Shaped like a natural tooth root, a dental implant is surgically inserted into your jawbone, with a small abutment that protrudes above the gum line to attach your dental prosthetic.
Better Partial and Full Dentures
Traditional dentures consist of a row of life-like replacement teeth situated on a gum-colored base. Though today’s dental adhesives are highly-effective, these dentures usually begin to slip and lose their grip over time. This is in large part due to jawbone deterioration, which occurs after your teeth are uprooted; healthy roots are embedded in your jawbone, and when you bite and chew, the stimulation signals your body to send enough nutrients to support them.
When the roots are loss, the nutrition supply diminishes. Securing your dentures to a series of dental implants can restore this stimulation and help preserve your jaw’s strength, as well as provide a more secure foundation to anchor your dentures in place.
ABOUT YOUR SANTA ROSA, CA, ORAL SURGEONS:
Combining experience in oral and maxillofacial surgery with a genuine care for their patients’ health and comfort, the team at Santa Rosa Oral Surgery is ready to improve the health and beauty of smiles in the Sonoma County and North Bay area. To schedule a consultation, contact our office by calling 707-545-4625 (Santa Rosa).
