If you have recently lost one of your teeth, you understand how disruptive it can become immediately. While the esthetic effect of tooth loss is apparent, the loss of function your bite experiences may be even worse. This is because your smile relies on every single tooth to operate fully. When a single tooth is missing, the neighboring teeth can begin to drift out of position and toward the open gap. This increases your level of bite misalignment, increasing the likelihood of tooth decay, gum disease, and other oral threats. When certain teeth take a disproportionate amount of force from your bite, they wear down the enamel, exposing sensitive inner material to bacteria that live in your mouth. By damaging other teeth, you become at risk of losing additional teeth. Fortunately, a dental implant could provide a permanent replacement tooth with the aid of a post inserted directly into your jawbone.
At Sunny Smiles Family Dentistry, we offer restorative treatments to combat dental loss with prosthodontics that return form and function. This means designing an implant that replicates your natural tooth’s appearance while restoring the strength of its bite. To determine if you are healthy enough for this procedure, we will take X-ray scans of the jawbone to evaluate its density. If you qualify, we can schedule an implant procedure shortly.
The Consequences Of Losing A Tooth
How do we lose permanent teeth as we age? Failure to maintain proper oral hygiene can turn your smile into a breeding ground for oral bacteria. By feeding on remnants of food left on the surface of your teeth, bacteria form plaque that grows without cleaning. This process creates an acidic waste product that wears away at the enamel on top. Eventually, this damage can become so severe that restoration with a filling or crown is not an option. In these instances, we suggest extracting teeth to prevent decay from affecting neighboring teeth.
The primary cause of tooth loss, however, is gum disease. If we detect an active gum infection, getting it under control with periodontal maintenance is critical to preventing additional tooth loss.
Securing A Dental Implant
If you qualify for prosthetic implantation, we will insert a post directly into your jawbone through the open socket. The biocompatible nature of your implant means that oral tissues will fuse to hold it in place for decades to come. After healing from the procedure, we can place a dental crown above the gumline that recreates the entire visible portion of a missing tooth.
TALK TO YOUR DENTIST AT SUNNY SMILES ABOUT A PROSTHETIC SOLUTION FOR MISSING TEETH
A dental implant can help preserve your smile after losing a tooth. To learn more about restorative treatment or plan your next visit, please call our Sunny Smiles location on N Zaragoza Rd in El Paso, TX at (915) 849-9000.