If you’re reading this, the chances are that you have a gap in your teeth – or perhaps more than one. There is a myriad of different reasons how this could have happened of course, from sporting accident to accident at home, old age or orthodontics gone wrong, or even the slightly more unpleasant gingivitis, or gum disease. Whichever way you have got to this point, you are now ready to start considering your options, and dental implants are one of the most popular considerations for people who want to fill a gap in their teeth. But with so many different options out there, how can you decide, and how can you know whether dental implants are a good choice for you?
For starters, you will need to consider whether the reason you’ve lost one tooth is going to cause you to lose another tooth again in the future. If you play a lot of contact sport, it is definitely time to pick up a gum shield and start protecting your teeth. If you have gingivitis, or gum disease, then you need to be able to get that under control before you even think about whether a dental implant is the choice for you. That is because your dentist won’t want to give you a specific treatment plan if it is just going to be repeated over and over again if you can avoid it.
Secondly, you will need to understand exactly what a dental implant is, so that you know what you are potentially letting yourself in for. A dental implant is usually comprised of two parts: a titanium screw that is drilled right into the bone of your jaw, and then a porcelain crown that is placed over the top that is made to look exactly like your other teeth with regards to shape, style, color, and fit. When you have a dental implant, it can take a few weeks to completely heal because the bone in your jaw has to grow back around the screw, but when this has happened, you’ll find that you can often forget that you even have a ‘false’ tooth in your mouth. If you take good care of it, a dental implant can last for decades, if not even longer.
Thirdly, you will need to consider what sort of dental treatments you may need in the future. If you have lost teeth before, and this is the first one that you want to replace, it may be worth asking your dentist whether you can have a slightly more complex treatment plan, like a bridge or an arch, so that more than one gap in your teeth can be filled at the same time. This will enable you to go back to having a full set of teeth all in one swoop, rather than having to wait several sets of weeks for each individual dental implant to heal and take.
What it all comes down to is your individual body, your individual teeth, and your individual set of circumstances, and that is why a dental expert such as Dr Paige Woods, one of the leading dentists in San Diego, would never absolutely recommend dental implants to anyone until she had given them a full consultation. Everyone is different, and to her mind there is no point considering a treatment plan unless you have your dentist’s approval that that treatment plan is the best course of action for your mouth. That is why, when it all comes down to it, the only way to know if dental implants are a good choice for you is to go and speak to your dentist.
More about Dr. Woods at http://paigewoods.com
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