Life beyond teeth
At some point in our lives, most of us will lose at least one tooth. Some of us may lose all of them, in an accident, or to decay, grinding, or gum disease. When we do, we have to work out how best to replace them.
What most of us want is artificial teeth that can do the job of natural teeth, not just some of the job. Up until recently, people could choose between dentures, or bridges to replace lost teeth. Dentures come out, bridges stay put. But neither did a comprehensively good job of replacing the teeth that were lost.
Thankfully, at The Old Windsor Dental Practice in Berkshire we offer another solution, which provides teeth that chew as well as natural teeth, stay put in the jaw, and keep the jawbone strong and healthy. This solution is dental implants, and they are fast becoming people’s first choice for replacing lost teeth.
Dental implants: the basics
Dental implants are titanium screws that are carefully inserted into the jawbone. A single implant can support up to three porcelain crowns.
Implants can also be used, with innovative techniques, to stabilise wobbly dentures, and also to replace all the teeth on a jaw.
They are not cheap, but the benefits they offer are worth the extra investment, and the good news is that they hardly ever fail. So, once you have had an implant, you can expect it to last for the rest of your life, which, for some people, can be several decades. Bridges and dentures need replacing every 5–10 years, and so, over time, investment in these solutions can really mount up.
If you want to have dental implants, the first step is to come for an examination so that we can determine how strong and healthy your jawbone is. If you’ve been missing teeth for a while, or are a smoker, it may well have deteriorated. There are ways round this, such as bone grafts, and a special technique called a sinus lift.
We also use mini dental implants to stabilise dentures, which are a great halfway house between dentures and full-on implants.
Come on in and find out how we can use implants to improve your life with missing teeth.
