Choosing the Best Replacement Option for Your Single Missing Tooth
Your smile tells a lot about you! It speaks about your confidence, interest, and personality. It is the first thing that someone would notice about you. So it becomes very important to take good care of it. If you have lost a tooth, your smile is going to be affected. So why not look for some options to replace this missing tooth.
While there are various replacement options available if you are missing some teeth in your mouth. But if you lost only a single tooth, there are some specific options available for the same. Visit a dental care center like Hillsborough Smiles. They take care of your particular situation to provide solutions accordingly.
There are several replacement options available including dental bridges and implants. But it has been claimed by many dentists that dental implants are the best option available for replacing your single missing tooth:
What are Dental Implants?
A Dental implant is a kind of surgical fixation which is used as a replacement for your missing teeth. They are made of metal frames/posts and are used to provide stability and support to the artificial teeth which are placed inside your mouth.
It is the most preferred option for those who have lost a single tooth. Dental implants replace not only the lost natural tooth but also its root. It has several advantages over other replacement options for single tooth loss, such as:
- It looks and functions like the lost natural tooth.
- The single tooth is replaced without affecting the functioning and health of neighboring teeth.
- It helps in preserving the bone by replacing the tooth root along with the missing tooth.
- It gets bonded with the jawbone and helps in maintaining the health of bone.
- It is easier to maintain and can be kept clean more easily than other replacement options such as dental bridges.
If you are wishing to have a dental implant in Bridgewater, book an appointment with Hillsborough Smiles.
How do Dental Implants work?
When an implant is being placed as a replacement for your lost tooth, it requires careful preparation. It provides adequate support to the implanted tooth by assessing the correct amount of bone for placing the implant.
Certain procedures need to be followed, such as:
- To find out the amount of bone available for placing the implant, the dentist might take CT scans of your teeth.
- The dentist might also augment the implant with bone or bone-like material if the jawbone does not support the dental implant. The healing might take a couple of months and only then the surgical procedure will start.
- After that, an implant which is a titanium screw is placed in the jaw. It will take several weeks for the jaw to grow around the titanium screw and provide it firm support.
- Finally, the dentist removes the cap of the titanium screw and replaces it with a titanium abutment (metal post). A porcelain crown is also cemented onto that abutment.
Disadvantages of opting for dental bridges over single-tooth implant:
You can also use other replacement options such as dental bridges. But as per our studies, we would suggest you go for dental implants instead of bridges. Here are some reasons why a single-tooth implant is better than bridges:
- Dental bridges affect the functioning of the surrounding teeth. It requires the adjacent teeth to be ground down for the cemented dental bridge to be supported.
- While using bridges some of the bone that surrounded the natural tooth earlier starts getting resorbed. This resorbed bone leads to an unattractive smile.
- It is difficult to maintain and clean the teeth while using bridges.
- The cement that holds the dental bridges might wash out which will allow bacteria and other contaminants to decay the anchoring teeth.
Dental implants are designed in such a way that you might never feel that you lost a tooth. They look and feel like your natural tooth. They are recommended by most of the dentists for those who have lost a single tooth.
“Questions to ask before dental implants.”
It is best to get professional advice before you choose a replacement for your single missing tooth. To get the best dental implant in Bridgewater, visit Hillsborough Smiles. The expert team will help you find the best solutions and will provide the best single tooth implant in Bridgewater.