Dental implants are the only fixed and permanent solution to missing teeth. The implants consist of a titanium post that replaces the root of a missing tooth, along with a crown to replace the tooth itself. Dental implants can replace any number of teeth, and they can last for many years or even for life.
People experience missing teeth for a variety of reasons – periodontal disease, accidents, and tooth decay to name a few. Missing teeth affect 70 percent of adults by the time they are 44 years old. In fact, 25 percent of adults are missing all of their natural teeth by age 74.
Dental Implants in California: Improvement to Replacing Missing Teeth
More patients prefer dental implants to replace missing teeth instead of traditional dentures and fixed bridges. That’s because while regular dentures do address missing teeth, they also create problems:
- Bone loss. Dentures sit on the gum line and eventually cause jaw bone loss and sagging face muscles, which takes away the support that dentures need for stability.
- Weakened teeth. Dental bridges are attached to existing teeth (abutments) for support. However, abutments must be ground down to accommodate the dental bridge, robbing them of their natural strength.
- Noisy sounds. Dentures will eventually slip and make clicking noises, which can make eating and speak just as embarrassing and challenging as having missing teeth!
California Dental implants have come a long way, from being seen as a luxury to being one of the top requested dental procedures today. In the past decade, awareness of the importance of a beautiful smile to self-esteem, along with advances in dental technology, has made cosmetic dentistry more popular and widely available than ever. Cosmetic dentistry can straighten your teeth, change their shape or color, rebuild broken teeth, and much more. Your smile makes your first impression on people you meet, which is why cosmetic dentistry is an important part of overall oral and emotional health.
There are many procedures that fall into the category of cosmetic dentistry and note that some of them have important oral health benefits as well.