If you have lost a permanent tooth, you do not have to resign yourself to a life with a missing tooth. You can get a bridge or replacement tooth. It used to be for a dentists in Minneapolis to be able to use a bridge, there should be neighboring teeth on both sides to support the artificial tooth.
Today, with implants, you don’t need to rely on neighboring teeth. Just as the term implies, an implant is literally planting a device inside your gums to support the replacement tooth or teeth. This device is you look at pictures almost looks like a screw with a tooth at one end. It is a major operation and being relatively new, quite expensive.
However, the benefits of having an implant done is multiple. You get teeth that look so natural. They feel no different from your real teeth that it is highly likely you will even forget you have replacement teeth or tooth. The boost to self confidence is tremendous since after an implant procedure is done at Dental Clinic Minneapolis, there is minimal maintenance other than the usual daily dental hygiene.
Compared to dentures which you can remove, there is always the inconvenience, not to mention fragility of dentures that one has always to be conscious of. In addition, with dentures, you can get bad breath because of food remnants both between the dentures and underneath the palate. Also, dentures are pretty obvious because of a reddish gap that may appear between the gums and the teeth, especially of the one wearing the dentures is still growing.
There are different types of implants such as the Endosteal which is the most common of all implants. It is the one mentioned above that looks like a screw with an artificial tooth at the other end. This implant is surgically planted in the jawbone and can hold more than one prosthetic tooth.
Another type is the Subperiosteal which refers to an implant on the bone as compared to in the bone. These implants are place on top of your jaw and used for patients whose jawbone are weak and cannot support having their jawbone being drilled.
With anything new, you can expect to hear some negative thoughts about it, and with implants, the comments generally are about having a foreign object in your jawbone. Fortunately, dentists Minneapolis know that a candidate for implant must pass through rigorous testing to make sure his body will accept the implant. For instance, someone with pre-existing medical conditions such as heart condition or if the candidate is a smoker. Nevertheless, there have been successful cases of both pre-conditions and an implant with minimal or zero side effects. One definite cause for denial would be age. A child cannot have an implant done simply because he or she is still growing. The parents will have to wait until the child matures into an adult and does not have anymore baby teeth.
Compared to a bridge or dentures, the obvious benefit is longevity and less chances of having to affect healthy teeth. This is because with a bridge, it is common for the teeth beside the empty spot to be cut down or trimmed to make way for the bridge. This is a permanent change which if you remove the bridge, you cannot restore naturally.
To find out if you need an implant, you will need to schedule a consultation with your dentist. Since this is something specialized, your dentist may or may not be qualified to do the implant. If not, your dentist will recommend someone who can. Technically, if you have a gap in your smile or anywhere because of a missing tooth or teeth, then you are a good candidate. You can live without the implant, but you might not be happy nor confident about your appearance.