For many years, the only really viable options for people who had missing teeth were to replace them with dentures and bridges. Currently, dental implants have emerged as a very real possibility for providing a strong foundation for either permanent or removable teeth to replace natural teeth. These replacement teeth can be made to match the other teeth in your mouth, so they are completely indistinguishable from all the other teeth. There are a number of advantages provided by dental implants which make them a good choice, as opposed to bridges or dentures.
Easier Eating
Prior to the popular use of dental implants, when dentures were a primary candidate for tooth replacement, a number of patients experienced sliding dentures when eating, and that, of course, made chewing difficult. There’s a big difference with dental implants, because they function very much like your original teeth. This allows you to eat all of your favorite foods, even things like steak or corn on the cob, with total confidence and without experiencing any kind of pain whatsoever.
Improved Appearance
Because dental implants look and feel very much like your natural teeth, they can improve your overall appearance and give you a feeling of self-confidence. Dental implants are deliberately designed to fuse with existing bone in your jaw, thus becoming permanent additions to your oral makeup.
Better Speech
Many people who opted for dentures as a tooth replacement system, were plagued with slippage within the mouth, and that resulted in either mumbled or slurred words which were difficult for listeners to interpret. That simply cannot happen with dental implants, because there’s no slippage at all, which means that you can speak clearly and confidently, with no worry about slippage.
Improved Oral Health
When bridges are installed in your mouth, it often requires that other adjacent teeth must be reduced. This is not the case with dental implants, since they require no kind of tooth reduction in the surrounding teeth. Since nearby teeth do not require any kind of modification to support your dental implant, it leaves your mouth basically intact, which can definitely support long-term oral health.
Self-esteem
Because your dental implants closely mirror what your natural teeth were like, both in appearance and function, you can have a great deal of confidence restored in all oral functions. You can smile again without worrying about how your teeth will look, or about any mishaps with dentures or bridges. You’ll feel better about yourself overall, and your self-esteem will experience a pleasant increase.
Greater Comfort
Unlike dentures, which have to be donned and doffed at least nightly, there is no kind of replacement necessary with dental implants, since they become a permanent part of your mouth. No food particles can get under them, causing the embarrassment of having to take them out to remove the food particles. That means you never experience the discomfort of having to put on, remove and clean temporary objects, like dentures, in your mouth.
Greater Convenience
Since dental implants are relatively permanent, they don’t have to be put in and taken out daily, as dentures would. That is an inconvenient process, and it often requires the use of messy adhesives to make your dentures stick in place. That’s a thing of the past with dental implants, since there are no adhesives necessary, and no inconvenient removal and replacement.
Increased Durability
With proper care, most dental implants will actually last for an individual’s entire lifetime, without any special maintenance or care. Normal brushing and good oral hygiene will ensure that your dental implants last for a very long time and can be used with complete confidence when chewing and eating.
Where to have Your Dental Implants Done
Anyone living in the area of South Florida should definitely consider having their dental implants done at Good Samaritan Dental Implant Institute. As you might guess from the name, dental implants are a specialty at this world-class facility, and Dr. Andrew Slavin has more than 25 years of experience in the industry. He is also board-certified by the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, which is a distinction he has twice been re-certified for.