People often say that you don’t know how much you need something until it’s gone. For many people, this is especially true of their teeth. Although you (should) brush and floss your teeth at least twice every day, you may not give them much more thought once you walk away from the bathroom sink. If you lose a tooth, however, then its absence likely won’t be as discrete as its presence. Your Park Ridge implant dentists, Dr. Maria and Dr. Thanasi Loukas, offer a quick guide to replacing lost teeth, including the importance of maintaining a full smile.
First Step: Understanding Lost Teeth
If you’ve already lost one or more teeth, then the effects of tooth loss probably aren’t a mystery. Missing teeth can diminish your confidence, and they cause many patients to hide their remaining teeth in embarrassment rather than showing their smiles in pride. Lost teeth also affect your mouth’s health and ability to function properly. Remaining teeth are subjected to additional pressure, and may shift towards the empty space to take up the slack. The jawbone can also suffer from tooth loss as the bone that once surrounded the lost tooth root becomes resorbed.
Restore Your Ability to Bite & Chew
The visible parts of your teeth are called crowns, and they’ve been the focus of teeth replacement for centuries. Today, a custom-designed dental prosthesis (i.e., dental bridge, partial, or full denture) can be crafted to fill in the spaces left by missing teeth. Replacing crowns allows a patient to once again bite, chew, and smile, though conventional dental prosthesis do not address the loss of your teeth’s roots, which extend below the gum line and into the jawbone.
Preserve Your Long-Term Oral Health
Hidden clasps and special adhesives typically hold a dental prosthesis in place. With the advent of dental implants, replacement teeth can now enjoy the stable and discrete security of a foundation embedded in jawbone (like how natural teeth are situated on top of their roots). Aside from dramatically increased stability, implants help preserve the jawbone’s integrity. Losing teeth results in jawbone resorption—the loss of bone due to biochemical activity—and the minerals that once supported the teeth are distributed to other areas of the body. Replacing lost teeth roots with one or more dental implants helps prevent resorption, jawbone deterioration, and further tooth loss to preserve your long-term oral health.
Replace Lost Teeth at Our Park Ridge Dental Implant Office
To learn more about options for replacing lost teeth, schedule an appointment with Dr. Maria and Dr. Thanasi Loukas by calling your Park Ridge implant dentists’ office at (847) 696-1919. Located in the 60068 area, we proudly serve patients from Park Ridge and the surrounding Chicago communities.