If you have recently lost one of your teeth, you understand how immediate the effect of dental loss impacts your everyday life. While the esthetic change is obvious, simple functions you may previously take for granted are permanently altered. Because we rely on our teeth to form our speech, your voice may sound quite different. You can find yourself avoiding previously favorite foods that now risk harming the open gap in your grin. Because dental loss contributes to problems with the alignment of your bite, you now shift your jaw in awkward positions to attempt to complete your chewing. This repetitive stress on the joints can lead to a painful condition called temporomandibular disorder. To avoid these complications and restore the health and beauty of your smile, discuss your options for tooth replacement with your dental team.
At Sunny Smiles Family Dentistry, we design and place custom prosthetics to help you regain your grin after losing a tooth. We can examine your mouth to determine if you are eligible for a dental implant. This unique prosthetic treatment restores stimulation from your bite to the jawbone, preserving it for years to come. The biocompatible nature of your implant post means the body’s tissues bind together, holding it in place permanently.
Why Do We Lose Our Teeth?
While a leading goal of dentistry is to preserve your adult smile for as long as possible, tooth loss affects millions of adults today. It can be impossible to predict sudden sporting injuries or other accidents that knock out teeth. When we are unable to return a natural tooth to its socket, a prosthetic can help return your smile. Advanced cases of tooth decay can also destroy too much healthy material to support a more conservative treatment with a dental filling or crown.
However, the primary contributor to missing teeth for adults is gum disease. The same bacteria that cause tooth decay can destroy the critical connection between your teeth and jawbone. By staying on top of your gingival health with periodontal maintenance, you can prevent additional dental loss.
Receiving Your New Prosthetic
If you are eligible for a dental implant, we will take careful measurements of your oral structures to plan the procedure. Inserting a titanium post directly into your jawbone allows for the eventual placement of an above-the-gum prosthetic. For individual teeth, we attach dental crowns, while more advanced cases of missing teeth can support entire bridges or dentures.
SPEAK WITH YOUR DENTIST AT SUNNY SMILES ABOUT A SOLUTION FOR DENTAL LOSS
Don’t let a missing tooth leave a permanent hole in your smile. 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.