If you are missing teeth, you may feel self-conscious about your smile. And lost teeth can impact your chewing and speaking ability. Over time, bone degeneration and subsequent tooth loss can also occur. Dental implants are a great option to replace missing teeth and revive your smile. Look at the following reasons as you way your options:

• Dental implants are a permanent solution. – Designed to look and feel like your original tooth, a dental implant is surgically placed under your gum and the dentist places a prosthetic crown on each post. These replacement options create a solid, attractive smile.
• Dental implants stand the test of time. – Although they may cost more money initially than dentures, dental implants have a longer lifespan. With proper home care and regular dental checkups, implants will likely last 20 years or more. Can you say the same thing about your dentures?
• Dental implants offer improved stability. – With implant therapy, you can say good-bye to messy creams and embarrassing slippage. Unlike dentures, the implants won’t move out of position because they are surgically anchored into place.
• Dental implants improve oral health. – When you lose a tooth, the other teeth may shift into the open space, creating alignment problems. Gaps in your smile can also weaken the supporting bone structure. Implants fill in the spaces, which keeps your mouth in better shape.
• Dental implants boost your self-esteem. – Lost teeth can cause you to limit what you do and the people you see. Completing your smile with dental implants can allow you to live life to the fullest so that you can eat, laugh, and smile with total confidence.

Tooth decay, infection, or other damage to a tooth can result in losing the tooth completely. Dental implants are titanium rods surgically inserted into the jawbone so that an artificial tooth can be secured on top. This provides a permanent and functional restoration. There are some myths about dental implants that have come up over the years, causing some patients to hesitate in choosing this way to replace missing teeth. Dispelling such myths can allow patients to experience the benefits of this dental restoration.

1. Process – It is a myth that the process of getting dental implants is long and extremely painful. Sedation dentistry is usually employed, including inhaled nitrous oxide and also local anesthesia. Pain medication is prescribed for the recovery period. Patients should not feel any stage of the process, which typically includes extracting the tooth, opening the gum, and placing the implant.

2. Bone density – Another myth is that patients without enough natural bone cannot ever get dental implants. It is possible for those with insufficient bone strength to become candidates for implants. First, the dentist will X-ray the jaw bone area and test the strength of the bone in the targeted implant spot. If there is not sufficient natural bone, a bone graft may be performed to strengthen that area. A period of rest and healing will be required between getting the implant and attaching the artificial tooth, but eventually the restoration can be completed with the potential for success.

3. Durability – It is false that dental implants will not remain in position, or that the artificial teeth will fail and make it impossible to have a complete restoration. If a licensed and qualified dentist does the work using FDA approved materials, implants should not fail without significant jaw deterioration or trauma to the jaw. Even if injury or bone loss occurs, it is possible to have implants redone if there is enough bone or a bone graft is performed.