If you have lost a tooth, or if poor oral health has caused the loss of several teeth, we can help with dental implants. But why should you see us for treatment? What happens otherwise? In today’s blog, your Brooklyn, NY, periodontist and dental implant experts talk about the risks of untreated tooth loss.
The Causes of Missing Teeth
We could lose our natural teeth for a number of different reasons. For example, missing teeth could follow a serious injury to the face or jaw. An untreated cavity or infection could lead to pain and missing teeth. You could also lose teeth to periodontitis, the advanced stage of gum disease. The factors could vary, and our team will examine your smile when you see us to assess the cause, so we can help manage the underlying factors and protect your new teeth, and also plan your replacement in detail.
The Changes to Your Smile
What happens to your smile once you lose natural teeth? These gaps that are let behind could lead to dental misalignment, as nearby teeth drift from their position to cause tooth loss. Your misalignment not only changes the appearance of your smile, but could leave you more vulnerable to issues like tooth decay, gum disease, which could increase the risk of further tooth loss.
Missing teeth could also limit your meal options and therefore your overall nutritional intake too. You could encounter issues with speaking clearly, and may feel uncomfortable in social situations, which impacts your quality of life in negative ways too. Missing teeth could also lead to your jaw weakening. Your body will take note of your lost teeth and then suspend the flow of nutrients to the jaw, which leads to it eventually breaking down, causing further tooth loss and even an older appearance!
Planning Replacement
To help keep your jaw intact and protect you from the complications of tooth loss, we could offer dental implants. Unlike traditional bridges or removable dentures, these are inserted directly into your jaw and act like new roots. This means the body will continue to send doses of essential nutrients to the jaw, so the areas don’t erode and you don’t lose additional teeth. This enables your new ones to stay in place for decades to come or possibly a lifetime. To begin, we will need to examine your smile and choose the best angles, positions, and depths to insert these implants to ensure they can support new teeth and keep your jaw stable and intact. If you have weakened jawbone structure that cannot support them, we could strengthen your smile with grafting or a sinus lift.
Ensuring Your Comfort
We know the idea of oral surgery could be a source of anxiety for some, which is why we can numb the area directly with a local anesthesia, and also ensure you stay comfortable with sedation, so you enter a deep state of calm and comfort, often with little or no memory of the procedure at all. We want your tooth replacement to be a positive experience, and we will work hard to ensure this is so!
Dental Implant Placement
Once you are ready and we have planned the process in detail, we will guide the biocompatible post into the jaw, where they bond with the bone structure and act like new roots. For an individual dental implant, we then attach an abutment that extends above the gum line and allows us to complete your new tooth with a custom crown. If you have several missing teeth and receive several posts, we could attach a bridge or even a complete denture, so you have a full smile and even feel comfortable and enjoy your favorite dishes again!
All-On-Four
For some, we could address total tooth loss in only one visit. All-On-Four means we insert four specially placed dental implants into the jaw, and attach a complete set of new and custom teeth in the same visit, so you leave with a full smile that looks natural and helps restore function to your bite. If you have any questions about how we address missing teeth with dental implants, or if you want to prevent the onset of complications related to your tooth loss, then reach out to our office today to get started. You can see us now and use your remaining 2025 dental insurance benefits and health savings account funds, starting your journey to a full smile before the year comes to a close!
Brooklyn Periodontics Provides a Full Smile with Implant Dentistry
We would like to help you on your journey to a full smile again with durable and lifelike dental implants. For more information on treating our tooth loss with long-lasting replacement options, then please call Brooklyn Periodontics & Implantology in Brooklyn, NY at (718) 444-3800 today.
