The benefits of having a dental implant placed can be significant to your oral health and hygiene, how you chew, and your aesthetic. Whether you are new to a missing tooth, have many missing teeth, or have been missing teeth for years, we can rebuild and provide you a permanent replacement tooth. At Pine Belt Periodontics, PLLC, we can review the information specific to the patient and then create a detailed treatment plan designed to fit your needs. A dental implant is different from any other type of dental restoration. It is not a replacement tooth, bridge, or denture, rather, a dental implant is a device that allows us to reestablish the connection between a replacement tooth and your jawbone. The implant is a new root system. This is why we tell our patients that with a dental implant we are doing more than just placing a prosthetic, we are rebuilding the entire structure from the base.
How is rebuilding the structure a benefit over just replacing the structure?
The benefit of rebuilding versus replacing may be larger than you think. A dental implant is a device we use to rebuild the missing structure. The benefits include:
| • | Better Bone Health: You will experience better bone health by filling in a missing tooth with a dental implant. The implant reestablishes the connection with the bone. Bone health is important to your oral health. When a tooth is lost, there is an immediate reaction of atrophy in the bone that supported the tooth. This atrophy will continue as time passes. As the bone shrinks, the facial shape will change. These changes may not be apparent with the loss of one tooth, but if you are missing multiple teeth, it will be visibly noticeable. |
| • | Better Tooth Health: A dental bridge can be a fantastic option in replacing missing teeth. The downside to a traditional bridge is altering otherwise healthy neighboring teeth to fit the dental bridge. In most cases, a dental bridge is placed by reducing the size of neighboring teeth to act as an anchor for the bridge. This is fine, but not ideal. When possible, we should not disturb otherwise healthy teeth. A dental implant provides the anchor we need to restore missing teeth. |
| • | Improved Chewing: Missing teeth, and dental prosthetics can alter what we can chew and how we chew. A dental implant in place of a missing tooth, provides a firm rebuilt tooth. This means, after it has healed, you can chew your regular diet without concern. |
We recommend replacing missing teeth with dental implants because it provides the next best option to your natural tooth. Whether you are looking for a single tooth implant or multiple tooth implant, our office will help find a treatment that fits your needs. Our patients find that they are able to forget that they ever lost teeth to begin with, and forgetting it’s there means a job well done.
The first step in receiving a dental implant is meeting with a member of our team. We can review your needs and create a plan that is right for you. For more information, contact our Hattiesburg office at (601) 255-9929.
