Natural Looking Dental Implants
A common concern when evaluating the various treatment options available for restoring missing teeth is that the restoration will look and feel natural. While removable dentures or a fixed bridge may be suitable treatment options, some patients may find these to be uncomfortable to wear or aesthetically unpleasing.
Dental implants are a restoration option for edentulous patients that avoid these potential drawbacks. To alleviate concerns about the dental implant looking natural, this article will highlight some of the features of dental implants that make them superior restoration choices for patients seeking replacement teeth.
Dental Implants: An Overview
Be it from trauma, injury, disease, or extraction, there are numerous reasons why teeth can become missing. When teeth are lost, the adjacent gum and bone tissue are negatively affected due to the lack of tooth roots. With dental implant surgery, the tooth roots are replaced with metal posts that are imbedded into the patient’s jawbone. These posts serve as the foundation upon which a metal abutment (connector) and replacement crown or prosthesis will be subsequently mounted.
Once the implants have been placed, time is needed to allow the patient to heal. During this healing period, a process known as osseointegration occurs where the implants fuse with the jawbone to create a strong, sturdy foundation. The patient will typically be given a temporary denture to wear in recovery prior to receiving their permanent prosthesis.
Do Dental Implants Look and Feel Natural?
When compared to traditional dentures or dental bridges, dental implants are superior in their appearance and functionality. Some of the reasons why dental implants look and function more similarly to natural teeth include:
- Below the Gumline: Traditional dentures simply rest on the patient’s gums. This not only can create comfort and functionality issues, but the dentures often look bulky or unnatural. Just like a tooth’s natural roots, the dental implant lies completely underneath the gum tissue making it invisible. As such, no one would know by looking that the tooth had been replaced as it would blend seamlessly in the patient’s mouth.
- Custom Materials: There are several choices of material that can be used when creating the replacement prosthesis that will be mounted on the dental implant. Ceramic, porcelain, gold, zirconia, and other alloys can all be used, but choice of material will impact aesthetics as well as longevity of the device. Patients that are most concerned with appearances may find that ceramic or porcelain implant crowns are the most visually pleasing as these materials are not shiny like their metal counterparts.
Other Benefits of Dental Implants
In addition to their natural appearance, dental implants are superior to traditional dentures or dental bridges because of the following:
- Durability: The materials in dental implants are durable and designed to last many years. With proper oral care, dental implants can last for life.
- Convenience: Because they are fixed in place, some patients may prefer having an option they do not have to remove for cleaning or that does not involve messy adhesives to hold in place.
- Improved Oral Health: Because adjacent teeth do not need alteration to support them, dental implants can improve the patient’s overall oral health by making cleaning easier.