Do Dental Implants Cause Bone Loss?

Do Dental Implants Cause Bone Loss?

May 2, 2022

When confronted with tooth loss, dentists advise that you seek replacements as soon as possible to prevent bone loss from your jaw. However, the suggestion can make you wonder why you must rush to seek replacements and what bone loss means.

Bone loss represents jawbone deterioration because it does not receive the supportive stimulation needed from your teeth. With time you notice your facial appearance sagging and making you appear older. It is a result of bone loss that occurs after tooth loss. If you want to prevent bone loss after losing your teeth, you must seek replacements solutions for them immediately.

Which Replacement Option Is Best to Prevent Bone Loss?

There are three types of replacement solutions available for substituting natural teeth. There are dentures, dental bridges, and dental implants.

Dentures sit on your gums, replacing the missing tooth or teeth held by suction or your neighboring teeth. The prosthetics do not help prevent bone loss, although they cover the gaping hole in your mouth.

Dental bridges remain fixed in your mouth because they are attached to the teeth adjacent to the missing tooth. Unfortunately, dental bridges cannot prevent bone loss because the neighboring teeth support them.

If you wish to prevent bone loss after getting replacement teeth, the sole solution available is dental implants. Dental implants can prevent bone loss while restoring the lost teeth in your mouth with natural-looking and functioning artificial teeth.

What Makes Dental Implants Unique?

Unlike dentures or dental bridges, getting a dental implant in Farmington, NY, surgically embeds deep into your jawbone, where they function as an artificial tooth root. The titanium implant integrates with your body over 3-6 months to provide a stable foundation for an artificial tooth mounted on the implant. The artificial tooth root created by the implant substitutes your natural missing tooth to provide your jawbone the stimulation required to stop deterioration.

Can Everyone Have Dental Implants?

Unfortunately, not everyone is eligible for dental implants. People with immunosuppressive conditions and inadequate physical and oral health do not qualify for implant placement unless they have their conditions treated. However, suppose you don’t have any issues and are in good physical and oral health. In that case, you can evaluate your mouth from the dentist in Farmington, NY, to determine your eligibility for dental implants.

Is the Procedure for Getting Dental Implants Intensive or Expensive?

The dental implant placement procedure seems intensive because of the lengthy healing time required after embedding dental implants in your jawbone. However, the placement procedure itself isn’t protracted and depends on how many teeth you need to have replaced with dental implants.

Suppose you merely need replacements for a couple of teeth. In that case, the dentist completes the placement procedure in a single appointment by giving you local anesthesia to ensure you don’t endure any discomfort. After dental implant placement, the titanium post in your jawbone needs to osseointegrate with your body and requires three to six months. It doesn’t mean that you remain without teeth until you recover from the placement. You can have temporary crowns over the implant during your recovery. However, it helps if you remember they need replacements eventually.

After you recover from the dental implant procedure, you must revisit the dentist to have a customized crown created by taking impressions of your teeth and mouth. The personalized crown made from porcelain resembles and functions like your natural tooth after being mounted over the implant.

Single tooth implants cost around $4500 with the dental crown and multiple appointments that you need with the provider. However, if cared for appropriately, dental implants remain in your mouth for a lifetime, unlike dental bridges or dentures needing frequent replacements in a decade or more.

Most importantly, dental implants prevent jawbone resorption, which starts soon after tooth loss and is why dentists recommend that you replace missing teeth sooner rather than later. Lost jawbone doesn’t regenerate unless you prepare to endure bone grafting procedures and more recovery time before getting dental implants in your mouth. In addition, dental implants are titanium, a biocompatible material that integrates with the body to become part of it. Out of the various replacement solutions available to substitute missing teeth, dental implants provide the sole option to prevent bone loss while providing you with natural-looking and functioning artificial teeth.

If you wish to replace your missing teeth before you confront bone loss, kindly contact Mark DiMartino, DDS, providing dental implants in Farmington before it is too late.

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