With the long-term popularity that dentures have enjoyed, much of the attention on tooth loss has focused on missing much or all of your teeth on one or both dental ridges. However, the loss of a single tooth can be equally devastating to your oral health, and replacing a single lost tooth should be as much a priority as replacing a bare dental ridge. Your Park Ridge implant dentists, Dr. Maria and Dr. Thanasi Loukas, explain why every tooth is important to your smile, and how an implant-supported dental crown can effectively restore your entire lost tooth to preserve your smile’s longevity.
The Loss of a Single Tooth
Even if your teeth were once perfectly aligned, they won’t remain so for long if their ranks are broken by a missing tooth. Aside from making your smile pretty, tooth alignment is important to the distribution of your bite’s pressure. When left untreated, tooth loss can cause the remaining teeth to shift, throwing your bite further off-balance and subjecting those teeth to an increased risk of accumulating plaque and subsequent dental diseases.
Dental Crown & Dental Implant—the Perfect Combination
Traditionally, dental bridges have been used to restore the loss of a single tooth, or multiple teeth in a row, and close the gap left in your smile. Comprised of a dental crown on either side of your replacement teeth, a conventional bridge is secured by attaching these crowns to the healthy teeth adjacent to the gap, known as abutment teeth. Today, you can replace your lost tooth without disturbing its neighbors by securing lifelike dental crown to a dental implant. As a prosthetic tooth root, a dental implant can be surgically inserted into your jawbone, which fuses to its titanium surface, and serve as an anchor for your single-tooth replacement. With a crown fashioned from durable dental porcelain that mimics your natural teeth’s color and shine, your new tooth will look and function as well as your healthy, natural tooth once did.
Learn About Implant-Supported Dental Crowns from Your Park Ridge Implant Dentists
To learn more about dental crowns, dental implants, and your various options for expert tooth replacement, 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.