If you happen to lose a tooth to injury or disease, you will need to replace it and preferably sooner rather than later. The most likely option is either a dental implant or a dental bridge. Making the right choice is far easier when you know a little more about each solution.
What Is a Dental Implant?
An implant is the closest thing to restoring a natural tooth, artificially replacing your real tooth root with a titanium or zirconia post. The post is inserted into your jawbone, where it soon fuses with the bone around it, forming a strong anchorage point for a new dental implant crown in Ajax.
Why Choose a Dental Implant?
The biggest advantage of choosing a dental implant is that it can last a lifetime provided it is inserted correctly, and you look after it properly. Because it can be such a long-term solution, it is extremely cost-effective over time, even though treatment can be a little more initially compared with other options.
A dental implant can look extremely natural, functioning just like a real tooth and restoring your ability to bite and chew food. If aesthetics are important to you, for example, when replacing a front tooth in Whitby, a dental implant might be the optimal choice.
Another advantage of choosing a dental implant in Pickering is its protective effect on your jawbone. When you lose a tooth, the bone around the empty socket soon begins to deteriorate and resorb. Dental implants provide a similar stimulation to real tooth roots, preserving your natural bone and helping to prevent bone loss.
A dental implant is a self-supporting prosthesis that doesn’t put any strain on existing teeth or require any modifications to these teeth. Instead, it shares the pressure created when you bite and chew food, helping to protect adjacent teeth from excess wear and tear.
While a dental implant is often an excellent solution, some people are concerned about the surgical procedure needed. It is extremely short and takes around an hour to insert a single implant. Here at Durham Dental Solutions, we use computer-guided surgery, ensuring each implant is inserted into precisely the right position during a surgery that is quicker and smoother because it is preplanned.
What Is a Dental Bridge?
When you have a bridge, it fills the gap created by one or more lost teeth adjacent to each other. The bridge is supported by crowns fitted over existing teeth and which are attached to replacement teeth called pontics. Usually, a dental bridge requires an abutment tooth on each side of the gap to help evenly spread and absorb the force created when you bite and chew food.
Why Choose a Dental Bridge?
One advantage of choosing a dental bridge is that it is a straightforward procedure. Unlike a dental implant in Oshawa, surgery isn’t needed, and treatment may be complete in a few weeks. A dental bridge is initially a cheaper solution compared with a dental implant to replace a single missing tooth.
However, this affordability can change when you need to replace the bridge because you will be replacing a prosthesis that covers a minimum of three teeth, rather than replacing a single implant crown in Newcastle. Another downside of choosing a dental bridge is that the adjacent teeth must be substantially reshaped, where your dentist in Clarington will remove a considerable portion of the tooth structure to make room for the dental crowns. It can be a good option if these teeth are already unhealthy and will benefit from being covered with a crown, but it is less desirable if the abutment teeth are strong and healthy.
It can be a tricky decision, but our dental implant dentist in Courtice can discuss all possible solutions in more detail while considering your oral health so you can make the right choice for your needs.
