Do I need dental implants?
A dental implant is a metal post surgically placed into your jawbone to serve as an actual tooth root onto which a prosthetic tooth will be mounted. A dental implant may be necessary if you lose your tooth or teeth through an accident, an oral infection or some other reason. They are considered by dentists and orthodontists to be the standard of care for prosthetic tooth replacement.
There are quite a number of reasons why dental implants are superior to any other form of tooth replacement:
Dental implants improve your oral health – Unlike tooth-supported dentures which require adjustment of adjacent teeth to fit in and be held in position, dental implants leave other teeth and surrounding gum intact, reducing the risk of oral infections and tooth decay.
They last long – Dental implants are just as strong as your real teeth and can last a whole lifetime without necessitating replacement or extra care besides what you give the rest of your teeth.
They improve your appearance – Dental implants are designed to fall perfectly in line with your other teeth making the two virtually impossible to tell apart.
They improve your speech – Dentures can easily slip in your mouth while speaking and cause you to slur your words or mumble. Dental implants, on the other hand, are tightly screwed to your jawbone, allowing you to speak without the fear of a tooth embarrassing you mid-speech.
Types of dental implants
At Andrew Mutch DDS, we offer the only two dental implant types considered safe by the American Dental Association:
- Endosteal implants
- Subperiosteal implants
Endosteal implants
These involve titanium posts being surgically screwed into your jawbone to act as tooth roots. They are the most common dental implant type and can only be used on you if your jaw has adequate bone weight.
Subperiosteal implants
With these, a metal frame is fitted onto your jawbone with one or more upward-facing metal posts to which prosthetic teeth are mounted.
