Dental 266 is pleased to offer our patients a wide selection of tooth replacement options that look and feel as natural as possible. Dental implants are now a very popular procedure, proving that their permanence and comfort is significantly higher than bridges and dentures, causing less damage to the surrounding teeth and gums.
Your particular circumstances will dictate which tooth replacement option will work best for you, and should be discussed with your dentist.
Let’s take a closer look at the more popular tooth replacement options available and how you could benefit from them.
Why Do Missing Teeth Need To Be Replaced?
Not only do our teeth perform the important work of chewing our food, but they also enable us to speak and articulate words properly. They give shape to our faces and influence the way we smile. And, when teeth are lost, it’s important we replace them, to restore full function to the jaws and to prevent further bone loss in the jaw.
Dental Implants To Replace Single And Multiple Teeth
The most permanent and natural-looking of the tooth replacement options, implants enjoy longer lifespans than all other options. They also stimulate the bone tissue, helping to avoid further bone loss and do not compromise the teeth around them.
You do not need to have adequate healthy gum and bone for an implant to be successful. It also works in your favour if you do not suffer from chronic medical conditions and if you are a non-smoker.
In terms of disadvantages, the initial cost can be a surprise, but when measured against follow ups and replacements required by other tooth replacement options long term, the cost is not really that high.
Dental implants are suitable to replace single and multiple teeth, and can also be used to support a bridge, in order to replace multiple teeth.
Tooth-Supported Fixed Bridges
Tooth supported fixed bridges require the adjacent teeth to be prepared, by grinding them down. A bridge is implanted across your teeth to act as a support structure for the crown. Over time the adjacent natural teeth will be more prone to decay because they have been ground down.
The crown also does not stimulate the bone growth underneath it so some level of deterioration is to be expected. Of course, you do need to have strong supporting teeth for the bridge to be fixed to.
Full and Partial Dentures
Full and Partial DenturesOnce the go-to tooth replacement, dentures are slowly falling out of favour because of their tendency to make themselves known when you eat, speak or cough. They are not very comfortable to wear and patients say that complete dentures affect the way their food tastes.
Dentures do not stimulate the bone and cannot prevent further bone loss. They do not require the surrounding teeth to be ground down, in order to accommodate them. Removable partial dentures can be taken out for cleaning.
Removable complete dentures are positioned above the gum, where the missing teeth used to be. They can also be taken out for cleaning, and for some relief after extended wear.
Resin Bonded Bridges for Front Teeth
Resin bonded bridges consist of wings that are created from porcelain or metal, positioned on a bridge and attached to your existing teeth; while it does fulfill the aesthetics of replacing the missing tooth, it does not stimulate the underlying bone.
Resin bonded bridges are typically created as tooth replacement options for the front teeth, or teeth that do not experience the same level of force as the biting teeth and molars.
There is no reason to endure missing teeth. Thanks to advances in modern dentistry you now have more tooth replacement options than ever before. Contact our practice today for a convenient appointment.
