Tooth loss can certainly affect your smile, and it can alter how you eat, speak, and chew your food. What you might not be aware of is how it can affect the health of your jawbone. Normally, your jawbone is stimulated by the roots of teeth, and that stimulation calls for the delivery of nutrients, to keep the bone healthy. However, when a tooth root is gone, the surrounding bone can deteriorate. What is unique about using a dental implant to support a prosthetic is that the implant actually addresses this problem. While other prosthetic types do not help take care of your jaw, the implant can take away the risk of deterioration.
Placing Your Dental Implant, And Attaching Your Restoration
Your dental implant and your replacement tooth are two separate items. You will receive the implant first – it will be placed in the space that once held your tooth root. You will receive the replacement tooth after you have healed from receiving the implant. Over the course of that recovery, your bone should fuse with the implant.
How To Avoid Tooth Loss
Having a lost tooth makes you especially vulnerable to losing more teeth – by receiving a dental implant, you lower your risk for loss. Gum disease is intimately tied to tooth loss – advanced gum disease can eradicate the support your teeth need, which means they can fall out, or need to be extracted. Your dentist will always include a periodontal survey when you go in for a routine dental checkup, along with checking on your teeth.
