If you have a decaying tooth or broken teeth, then heading to the dentist is the logical choice, and helping you regain your confidence, comfort, and smile is their job. To do that, they need to help fill up those holes left by tooth decay or an accident.
The good news is there are options you can choose from, and while in the past, you would have only had dentures and bridges to choose from, today, there are dental implants. The introduction of dental implants has brought in a well-received option. In this article, we will explore dental implants and whether you qualify for their use.
What Are Dental Implants, and Why Get Them?
Dental implants are root tooth replacements made of titanium and surgically inserted through your gum to merge with your jawbones. The thought behind dental implants is getting a more natural look, and so the titanium acts as a new root for the tooth the dentist will place on it. Dental implants are quickly becoming a norm today.
A study shows in America alone, half a million people a year are taking up dental implants as their preferred choice.
It’s not too difficult to see why people prefer it to alternatives like bridges or dentures. Here are some reasons to use a dental implant:
- Durability: Dental implants last years and most times a lifetime if it is well maintained.
- Comfort: In the long run, which is after the procedure and bonding stage, dental implants are more comfortable to use because they act like your regular teeth.
- Better speech: Temporary dentures can easily slip out, causing you to slur your words while speaking, but implants don’t cause the same problem.
- Easy chewing food: When using dentures, it’s hard to chew because the fitting can slide out. Dental implants make it easy to chew your meals.
- Appearance: The appearance of dental implants looks and feels like your regular teeth. This experience gives you that confidence and esteem you need when showing your teeth.
Dental implants present a better option compared to dentures or bridges. Considering it is designed for long-term use, it also is seen as a long-term investment with promising results.
The Problems With Dental Implant
Fixing a dental implant doesn’t guarantee a 100 percent success rate. Studies have shown there are setbacks you might encounter. Professionals in Texas, with the help of the dental implant dentist in Fort Worth, highlight some drawbacks of implants. It’s important that you consult a dentist that is well-informed and experienced to help you understand these details. They include:
- Infection: The most common problem is an infection in the operated area. After the operation, there are always a number of instructions the doctor gives to help recover, and not following those instructions to the latter may lead to carelessness in handling your teeth, which then leads to infection.
- Damage to the Nerve or Tissue: Dentists are also humans, and they may place the implant close to a nerve ending or a tissue, causing long-term pain. These types of injuries require immediate attention, and if you feel persistent numbness on the side of the implant and the numbness stretches across your lips and jaw, then you may have to check with the doctor.
- Receding Gums: The gums may recede, which is not a good sign. It may be an indicator that they did not position the new tooth properly. It may also be other factors that contributed to it or caused it, like a decline in oral hygiene or over brushing and wearing off the gum around that area. If you continue experiencing receding gum, notify your dentist fast.
- Fail Implant: If the titanium root cannot fuse with the bone, a process known as osseointegration, within 3 to 6 months, it means the implant has failed. You can do another implantation after giving the gum time to recover.
Implants are not perfect, and things can go wrong. The best thing to do if you encounter any complication is to report it and work with your dentist to provide a solution.
Who Can Get Dental Implants?
With the increasing use of dental implants in the States and the world, one wonders what criteria are needed to get an implant. Anyone can get a dental implant, except for the following set of people.
- Children: Professionals agree that children or anyone under the age of 18 shouldn’t get an implant. The reason for this is that children’s jawbones are still developing at this stage of their life. It would be the dentist taking an unnecessary risk.
- Smokers: Smoking damages the gums, which is also a crucial part of the mouth if the dentist wants a successfully installed titanium implant. Smoking produces a bacterial plague that stops the flow of oxygen around the month, and because the gum needs nutrients from the blood to continue to function as an encore for the teeth, it blackens and withers away. Therefore, people who smoke are usually turned away from performing this procedure, since healthy gum is a prerequisite for a successful surgery.
- Radiation: If undergoing any treatment that uses radiation around the jaw area, it’s advisable to stay away from dental implants at the moment. The reason is simple. Radiation kills cells, and it’s not unheard of to have a weak jaw or sores in the mouth, which is not ideal for the procedure.
- Medication: Certain medications for certain types of illness will prevent one from taking dental implants. An example is, having diabetes. The condition causes the wearing down of the gum. The medication tries to control this, but the gums are already weak by this point.
Your dentist will decide if your gum and jawbone are healthy enough for dental implantation. To determine these, they scan the jaw and carry out other dental tests to identify if you are ready.
On most occasions, the procedure requires tooth extraction and, depending on the state of the teeth.
They can have the dental implants in the same session, or you come back another time. If the dentist had to use a solution to prepare the gum for the procedure in 3-6 months, they give a temporary denture until the gum is ready.
Taking Care of Your Teeth After The Implant
Taking care of your teeth after the implants have healed, and the tooth put on the titanium root, is like taking care of your regular teeth. It requires you to brush twice a day with fluoride-rich toothpaste, use a mouthwash, floss and make a dentist appointment at least twice a year for check-ups. Do all of these, and your teeth are as good as new and will last you for a lifetime.
A dental implant isn’t for everyone and, therefore, know where you stand before getting one. Your dentist’s advice will be valuable at this point. It’s also worth mentioning that dental insurance doesn’t cover the cost of dental implants because the insurance company believes getting implants is optional for you and not mandatory.