A solution you can depend on

As anyone who has lost either one or more of their natural teeth will tell you, living with gaps in your mouth presents challenges on an almost daily basis. Not only do people who have spaces in their mouths have to deal with the social consequences of missing teeth, but they are also subjected to a wide range of dental and general health implications – the effects of which can range from severe discomfort to an alteration in your entire facial structure. 

This is why dental and orthodontic practices have, for years, been urging anyone who is missing teeth to speak to a professional about getting dental implants in Leicester. In doing so it is entirely possible to effectively and permanently restore the way your smile feels, works and looks once and for all. 

Despite having been available from many trusted dental care providers for some time now, many people who could be potentially benefiting from the structurally-enhancing benefits of dental implant treatments refrain from getting the care they need because they aren’t fully aware of how implants differ from other treatments and why they are the most trusted solution in the long-term. 

What makes implants different?

Although the number of patients choosing dental implants is steadily rising across the board, the amount of people who still opt for more common treatments like crowns, dental bridges or veneers is still larger than the amount of those who choose implants. The main reason for the discrepancy is generally attributed to people not fully understanding the differences between implants and these more traditional treatments. 

Dental bridges and crowns – which are the most popular forms of treatment for lost teeth – both depend on the patient’s existing natural teeth for their support as they lie on your gum line and fill in the gap in your smile on a mostly cosmetic basis. This dependency on your existing teeth can lead to these treatments causing problems for patients as time goes on, as their existing natural teeth have a tendency to move out of place over the years – which can result in the crowns or bridges becoming ill-fitting and rubbing against your gums causing discomfort. 

Dental implants however provide patients with a permanent solution as they are structurally embedded inside each patient’s jawbone – which makes them far less likely to shift over time and results in a far more comfortable and durable fit. 

How are dental implants fitted?

Dental implants are often pitched to people who are missing teeth as the only treatment they will ever need to completely restore both the aesthetics and usability of their smile, due to the fact that their new tooth (or teeth) is bonded within their mouth permanently through a complex surgical dental procedure. This procedure involves exposing the patient’s jawbone within the space where they are missing teeth and inserting a titanium-alloy based artificial tooth root into this hole.

Once this new tooth socket or root is placed into the patient’s jawbone it is then sealed over and is given time for the titanium alloy and the bone tissue to merge. When the implanted tooth root and the patient’s jawbone have fused the hole can then be re-opened and used as a permanently fixed anchor point into which a new denture can be fixed. 

Once fixed the patient’s new tooth will both look and feel almost exactly as a natural tooth would and can be used with the same levels of confidence – without the need to worry about the implant shifting or breaking.