Dental implants are the most advanced tooth replacement option available to our patients. Done correctly, they are highly esthetic and will look and feel like your own teeth. Equally important, dental implants are the only tooth replacement option that maintains the jaw bone that is so critical for facial esthetics. Following loss of a tooth, the jawbone will naturally resorb (atrophy) unless replaced by a dental implant (diagram). This is traditionally what happens under bridges and dentures, a process that can give denture patients a prematurely aged, “sunken-in” look.

     Besides saving bone, dental implants also save teeth. Prior to implants, fixed (non-removable) bridge-work which was used to replace missing teeth required the shaving down of adjacent teeth to serve as anchors. Besides requiring the grinding-down of sound tooth structure, this would often result in the immediate or future need for root canal treatment of the anchor teeth. Capped and root canaled anchor teeth are more vulnerable to cavities and fractures. With implants, missing teeth can be replaced without touching adjacent teeth. The results are individual tooth restorations that are easier to clean. Implants help distribute biting forces and therefore protect, not weaken, adjacent teeth.

     Implants cannot get cavities nor will they require root canals, making them the ideal option for patients with a history of cavities or failed root canals. A properly placed, healed, and well-maintained dental implant will serve as a permanent (lifetime) tooth replacement.