A lost tooth may make you concerned about your smile — and for good reason. Whether you lose one tooth or several, those gaps or spaces completely change your appearance.
However, tooth loss causes far bigger problems. And the more teeth you lose, the more your oral health is impacted.
But you can take action to protect yourself. It all starts with replacing those missing teeth.
Dr. Caesar Sweidan and Dr. Laura Smith offer numerous tooth replacement options at Gulf Coast Periodontics & Implants in Gulfport, Mississippi. However, nothing compares with the results you get from dental implants.
Do you have a missing tooth? Here’s how this treatment improves your oral health.
There’s a reason implants are an industry favorite — it’s the only option that looks and functions like a natural tooth.
It all comes down to the surgical post that gets implanted in the jawbone. Think of this device as a brand new tooth root.
Once it fuses in place, it anchors the visible portion of the tooth replacement — either a crown or denture.
This approach provides a more secure fit that looks and feels completely natural. They’ve become so popular that experts consider them one of the most significant dental advancements in the last 40 years.
And that’s because they go beyond restoring your smile.
It’s hard to resist the look, feel, and function of a dental implant. However, the role they play in improving your oral health is unmatched.
People often think of their teeth as single entities. So, if you lose one, you still have others you can rely on.
But teeth actually function as a unit. They hold each other in place and stimulate bone tissue production within the jaw — and it happens every time you apply pressure to a tooth.
When a tooth is lost, a weakness develops in this group structure. The surrounding teeth start moving into the new space, and the body begins breaking down and absorbing tissue.
The process starts faster than you think, often within the first six months of losing a single tooth.
As your teeth shift out of position and bone loss sets in, your bite can change, too. This can negatively impact your ability to chew and talk and can drastically affect your appearance.
Worse yet, those extra gaps and spaces create additional places for bacteria to hide, increasing your chances of decay, gum disease, and further tooth loss.
Implants help you avoid these complications by replacing missing teeth with the next best thing. Plus, they can last a lifetime.
However, results like these don’t happen overnight. Instead, it usually takes several appointments and up to six months to complete the implant process.
However, once in place, they look and function like natural teeth.
In fact, you even care for them the same way through brushing, flossing, and regular dental checkups.
Do you want to improve your oral health with dental implants? Dr. Sweidan or Dr. Smith can evaluate your mouth and oral health to determine if you’re a good candidate moving forward.
Contact Gulf Coast Periodontics & Implants by phone or online to request a consultation in Gulfport, Mississippi, today.
