Are There Alternatives to Dental Implants in Park Ridge?

Your Park Ridge implant dentists, Dr. Maria and Dr. Thanasi Loukas, advise that replacing your lost teeth with a dental implant-supported prosthetic is typically the best option for preserving your oral health after suffering tooth loss. Unfortunately, not everyone is a viable candidate for dental implant placement, though that doesn’t negate the need to replace lost teeth. For instance, if severe dental disease, a traumatic injury, or a congenital defect causes insufficient jawbone structure to support an implant, then you might not be eligible to receive them without a jawbone graft for reinforcement. For elderly patients, or patients who shouldn’t undergo surgery for other reasons, there are myriad alternatives outside of dental implants for restoring your smile and quality of life.

Conventional Tooth Replacement Options

Though dental implants have enjoyed immense success, they’ve only been clinically used for just over 20 years. Before they became an essential component of tooth replacement, patients who suffered single, multiple, or total tooth loss found relief in the form of dental bridges, partial dentures, or full dentures.

Dental implants provide the support that your natural teeth enjoy by replacing lost tooth roots. Without them, however, your dental prosthetic can be secured using a variety of alternative options. For instance, dental bridges utilize dental crowns secured to healthy teeth adjacent to the gap in your smile. The crowns are secured to these abutment teeth with your fabricated replacements situated between them. Dentures consist of a full row of new teeth attached to a gum-colored base, which is secured to your gums using special adhesives and the suction created by the concave shape of the roof of your mouth. Using hidden clasps, partial dentures can be designed to fit around your existing teeth, with the prosthetic teeth placed precisely where your lost teeth once were.

Find Out if Dental Implants are Right for You with Your Park Ridge Dentists

If you’ve lost one or more teeth but are ineligible for dental implants due to insufficient jawbone structure, then you may have options for reinforcing your jaw to receive the implants. To find out if dental implants are right for you, or to learn more about alternatives to dental implants, schedule an appointment with your Park Ridge implant dentists by calling Loukas General Dentistry at (847) 696-1919. Located in the 60068 area, we proudly serve patients from Park Ridge and the surrounding Chicago communities.