Dental Implants
Millions of American suffer tooth loss despite improvements in dental care. Tooth loss mainly occurs from tooth decay, gingivitis, or injury. Bridges and dentures use to be the only options available, but today there are dental implants. Dental implants are replaced tooth roots. Implants provide a strong foundation for permanent or removable teeth that are made to match your natural teeth.
This may result in less overall dental visits, eliminates the need for dental office hopping, and provides consistent care and comfort.
So what is involved in getting dental implants?
The first step is to create an individualized treatment plan with an oral surgery or restorative dentistry team. Once a plan is in place, a tooth root implant (a small post made from titanium) is placed in the bone socket of the missing tooth. As the jawbone heals, it grown around the implanted metal post, securing it to the jaw.
Healing takes from six to twelve weeks. Once the tooth root implant has bonded, a small connector post is attached to hold the new tooth and a replacement tooth called a crown is then attached. The crown will match the other teeth in your mouth. The procedure is done under local anesthesia and produces little discomfort.
With proper care, dental implants have a 98% success rate.
Advantages of Dental Implants;
-
Improved Appearance: Implants look and feel like your own teeth. They are designed to fuse with the bone so that they become permanent.
-
Improved Speech: Implants allow you to speak without the worry that teeth might slip cause you to mumble or slur words.
-
Improved Comfort: Implants become permanent and eliminate the discomfort of removal
-
Easier Eating: Sliding dentures can make chewing difficult. Implants allow you to eat with confidence and without discomfort.
-
Improved Self-Esteem: Dental implants give you back your smile!
-
Improved Oral Health: This procedure does not require reducing other teeth as a bridge requires, leaving more of your own teeth in tact. It also allows for easier more natural cleaning in between teeth.
-
Durability: They are very durable and with proper care will last a lifetime.
-
Convenience: There is no need to remove the implants to clean or use special adhesives to make sure they remain in place.
Signs You Need Extra Fluoride
Some people need extra fluoride to help battle tooth decay. Others seem to get enough in their daily routine. How can you tell which you are? The easiest way to tell is if you are regularly getting cavities. Fluoride protects against cavity formation. If you notice a regular pattern of new, tiny cavities, more fluoride could be the secret to helping protect your mouth. We can give you a fluoride treatment, put sealants on your teeth, or even recommend new products to help improve your oral health all around. A simple change in the products you use could mean a large improvement in how healthy your teeth and gums are.
What should your oral hygiene routine include?
There are always questions about how to set up an oral hygiene routine when we have patients come in. Some want to know about how often to brush or floss, while others want to know about things like mouthwash. Here is a simple breakdown of what you need to make sure you are taking the best care of your oral health as possible.
Daily Oral Hygiene Routine
Each day, you need to make sure you brush. This should be done once in the morning and one more time at night. You should make sure you brush for a full two minutes each time, timing it out if necessary.
One of the times that you brush, you also need to floss. You want to drag the floss along the insides of your teeth, not saw it back and forth, to get the most debris out from between your teeth. You should then rinse with an antibacterial mouthwash to ensure the areas between your teeth get thoroughly clean.
Routine Outside of the Daily Grind
You also need to make sure you come in every six months for a cleaning. This is very important when it comes to caring for your teeth. We clean differently and more thoroughly than your toothbrush can. If we find any issues, you want to also have them treated as early as possible. Otherwise, it can lead to bigger problems that can ruin your oral health.
If you want more ideas on how to care for your mouth, call us. We are here, ready and waiting to help with anything you may need. Taking care of your oral health is something that helps take care of the rest of your body, too, so make sure you never let your oral health slide!