Have you got the jaw for dental implants in Windsor?
In Windsor, dental implants have become most people’s first choice for replacing teeth. This is because dental implants are less hassle, more lifelike and last longer than the alternative replacement methods of full or partial dentures and fixed bridgework.
That said, here at Old Windsor Dental Practice, we can’t just fit you with dental implants without first doing some investigative work to find out what condition your jawbone is in.
What’s so important about your jawbone?
Your jawbone has to house your dental implants. We have to drill channels into it and then tap or screw in the titanium implants, which then have to be able to withstand immense chewing forces. If your jawbone has deteriorated in size and density, it will not be able to hold the implants in place when you chew. It would be a bit like putting a screw into mortar than good solid brickwork, and then trying to hang a really heavy mirror off it.
Your jawbone also needs to be healthy and vibrant so that, once the implants have been put in place, the bone will grow new tissue and blood vessels all over the surface of the implants. It is this that will hold your implants in place when you chew.
What affects the health of your jawbone?
The size and density of your jawbone is affected when you lose a tooth. The area around where the tooth was no longer receives the vibrations through the teeth that tell the bone cells to keep on renewing themselves. In fact, the bone interprets the lack of vibration as meaning that chewing has ceased, the bone is no longer needed, and the bone starts to dissolve itself and the gum recedes. You can lose up to 25% of the bone’s size and density in the first year alone after losing a tooth.
Your jawbone is also affected by diabetes and smoking, both of which can interfere with the all-important, post-operative healing process.
What to do?
If you want dental implants in Windsor, we can find out at the initial consultation if your jawbone is up to it, and if not, there may be ways we can improve the bone so it can take implants.
