When we lose a tooth, it's a double loss. We have the gap among our teeth and the invisible gap in the jawbone where the root used to be. Dentures and bridges have done a good job for many decades at filling the tooth gap, but they don't fill the root gap.
Why Should the Root Gap be Filled?A hole left in the jawbone will not stay there indefinitely. If you take no steps to fill it, your body will. The jawbone will shrink to fill it, and this will change the shape of your facial profile and your jawline. It will create an aged look, a shrunken look, especially if there is more than one missing root. By shrinking, the jawbone will also weaken itself.
A dental implant is an artificial tooth root. If you have your implant dentistry done soon after your tooth loss, the implant can be positioned in the hole left by the missing root. Even if you have lost an entire mouthful of teeth, you can have twenty or thirty implants to hold a mouthful of new teeth, and your smile will most certainly be restored. It might well be a more white, even, and attractive smile than you originally had.
How Implant Dentistry Works
An implant is dental surgery, so it will take a few months because of the healing time that must be allowed for. It is typically done in three stages.1. The implant is positioned in the jawbone where the root was, and the gum tissue stitched together over its top. There are horizontal grooves in the implant surface to encourage bone tissue to grow in closely and hold the implant firmly in position. This healing period varies between individuals and is between two months and six months. 2. The gum tissue is opened again and a small piece is attached to the top of the implant. It is called an abutment, and it will protrude through the gums to hold your new tooth. Healing from this dental surgery is only a few weeks. 3. The new tooth is permanently attached to the abutment. Now you have restored jaw health, bite health, and overall dental health. You can maintain it with the same daily care you give your natural teeth.
Bone Grafting, if Necessary
If you lost a tooth, or teeth, or even all your teeth many years ago, and have used dentures or had a bridge since then, your jawbone has probably filled in the root gap(s) by now. Not many people realize that wearing dentures is not possible indefinitely. The day will come for everybody when no denture can be successful because the jaw will have deteriorated too far.
A shrunken jawbone means that you have less bone tissue than you originally did. If you decide that after all, you'd like to get implants, you may not have enough jawbone. Implants require a certain minimum of bone width, depth, and density to be successful, and you may not have those minimums now.
But there's a way around this problem. You could have a bone graft done. This would be a separate dental surgery where bone is taken from the hip area and grafted to the jawbone to give it increased size. There would be a recovery time of a few months before you could then go ahead with dental implants.
Delay Not a Good Idea
If you are over 65 years of age there will be no insurance or Medicare coverage for implant dentistry, even though it is a necessary procedure to restore your teeth once dentures become impossible. Your dental work can then become a lot more expensive than it would have been earlier in your life. To help with that problem, the best cosmetic dentists work with Health Financing companies to help you obtain low-interest or even no-interest loans with easy payment schedules.
If you have any missing teeth, it is in your own best interests to visit a good cosmetic dentist as soon as possible and have your mouth evaluated. Consultations are usually done at no charge, or if there is a charge, it will be applied to any dental work you decide to have.
So don't delay in dealing with your missing teeth. Modern dental technology makes dental work faster, easier, and virtually painless these days, and cosmetic dentists typically have a great respect for their patients. They will take time with you to answer questions, show you your X-rays, explain procedures, and discuss your options with you.
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