Long Term Benefits Of Dental Implants

This ‘gold standard’ tooth replacement procedure can set you up for life….

We are now at the start of a new year and some of us will have started to make plans for what we want to achieve this year. With a whole year to go before the next one, some of these plans will be looking to the longer term, rather than a ‘quick fix’ solution. In the world of dental care, we are, thankfully, able to offer many treatments which can and do restore dental issues very quickly; for example, fillings. Some treatments though are probably best looked at from a long term perspective.

One area where this is true is in the replacement of missing teeth. When a tooth is lost, whether from neglect or an accident, it does pose the immediate problem of what you can do to replace it. Some may choose to leave a gap if the tooth is not a visible one, though this would be a mistake as it can place additional stress on other teeth and you may also end up with uneven teeth due to encroachment into the vacant area where the tooth was.

While a bridge can be used to achieve this aim, the two most popular solutions tend to be dentures or dental implants. Let us look at these now, with a special emphasis on the long term benefits.

The ‘quick fix’

Although dentures will need to be produced, which can take a week or so, it is fair to say that dentures offer one of the quickest ways to replace a missing tooth. They also often have the benefit of being a relatively cheap option and one that usually requires no invasive dentistry to be carried out.

Dentures then may be quick but you should also bear in mind that you will need to wear these for the rest of your life. You will need to remove your dentures daily in order to clean them. This includes soaking them overnight and then having to replace them in your mouth in the morning. Many people also find that wearing dentures can make eating certain foods difficult. Sticky foods such as toffee and foods that require significant chewing, such as a steak, may prove to be tricky. Imagine avoiding some of your favourite foods for the rest of your life!

It is also worth considering the ongoing care of dentures and the potential cost implications. The need to repair dentures is quite common, whether this be adjustments as your face shape changes as you get older, or repairs to them due to being dropped when cleaning. Taking all of this into account, the cost of having and maintaining dentures can soon add up.

Dental implants – a longer term view

One thing that can deter some people from having dental implants placed is the length of time involved from placing the implant to it being established enough to return to your regular eating habits. This means approximately three months of having to take more care of what you eat to allow the implant and bone to fuse together without causing any damage. There is no doubt that this can be restrictive, especially in the very early stages, but a bit of short term care and some planning of what to eat can soon make this relatively short spell pass quite quickly, leaving you with a permanent and fixed replacement tooth that is the closest thing to a natural tooth (including the important root part) that is currently available.

So what can patients of Blue Sky Dental expect from their dental implants after this short period has passed, with your new implant now fully ‘ready to go’?

From this stage onwards, providing that you look after your new implant with the correct cleaning and ongoing professional monitoring, you can essentially think of your new implant as you would a healthy natural tooth. This probably means thinking about it little at all and just getting on with your daily life. There is no need to remove it for cleaning and you can just brush and floss your teeth as you should with a natural tooth. You won’t need to cast a cautious eye over a menu, wondering what you can and can’t eat because you are concerned about damage or difficulty, you won’t have any ongoing care bills providing that you look after them and avoid accidents. In essence then, you now have a fully integrated replacement tooth that can last you for twenty years, and very often many more!

Our Chelmsford dental team fully understands that committing to having this treatment can be a big decision for some people and we are always here to answer any queries that you might have about the procedure or about dental implants in general. We do feel though that this is the best solution available for replacing a missing tooth, and one that frees you up for other things without having to continually think about whether your dentures will become loose or finding that you put up with sore gums from friction against the dentures.

If you have lost a tooth, whether recently or some time ago, the new year could be a good time to take a look at your options. We provide free non clinical consultations for those interested in having teeth implants. If you would like to arrange one to discover more, please call Blue Sky Dental today on 01245 211070.