Are Dental Implants Harmful To Surrounding Teeth?

If you've ever experienced tooth replacement care for yourself or know someone who has, you might know that some methods of tooth replacement come with some drawbacks. Dental bridges, for example, can cause strain and additional wear and tear on surrounding healthy teeth. If you're looking to find out if tooth implants will cause problems like these, read on to learn the answer.

Why Implants Don't Cause the Same Problems as Other Tooth Replacements

The reality is, dental implants simply don't cause problems for other teeth. This is because dental implants are completely self-sufficient and don't rely on the surrounding structures of your mouth to support themselves.

Dental bridges and some varieties of partial dentures are essentially attached to healthy teeth on either side of your missing tooth gap. While this allows the replacement to be easily installed, over time, it causes problems for your healthy teeth. Having an artificial bridge or set of dentures constantly pulling or pushing on healthy teeth will eventually damage them in most cases.

Dental implants, on the other hand, rely upon the titanium peg beneath them to withstand the demands of your mouth. Since the other teeth are left untouched, you won't have problems down the road from your dental implants.

How They Help

If you're glad to hear that dental implants don't cause damage, the good news doesn't stop there. Dental implants can actually help to keep your other teeth healthy.

Teeth are individual structures, but they also work together. The pressure applied to your teeth is transmitted into your jaw, keeping the whole bone strong. When some teeth go missing, portions of the jaw begin to weaken. This can undermine the structural integrity of your remaining teeth and make them more likely to become loose or even fall out.

Dental implants transfer pressure the same way real teeth do. By having that titanium peg under them, they can strengthen your jaw just like real teeth would.

What To Expect

If you're interested in getting dental implants, you should visit a dentist. Your dentist will be able to walk you through the entire process. For most people, the titanium pegs are installed first, and after a healing period, the artificial teeth are then mounted on top of them. Your dentist will look over your dental health and history of dental procedures to determine if you qualify for dental implants. If they think you do, you'll be ready to begin replacing your lost teeth immediately.

Dental implants are one of the best methods of replacing missing teeth. If you're tired of having gaps between your remaining teeth, talk to a dentist about implants.


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