'
Teeth are essential to our health and well-being. They serve as a foundation for our smiles, protect our cranial bones, and help us chew food.
If you have problems with your smile or speech, it may be time to fix missing tooth. Be sure to visit Southland Dental Care for all dental implants Los Angeles.
However, with the many options for replacing missing teeth available to you, it can be challenging to decide the best solution for your needs.
This article will compare dental implants with traditional teeth replacement options. It will also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each method and offer advice on choosing the best one for you.
Throughout history, people have lost their teeth through accident, disease, or decay. As early as 700 B.C., primitive dentures were made from human and animal teeth.
Over the years, new forms of dentures have been created, including ceramics. Current denture designs include dental implants for strength and longevity.
Dentures are custom-made replacements for missing teeth. They’re usually made of a durable plastic called polymethyl methacrylate, PMMA, though they can also be made of acrylic if you have special requirements. The plastic rests on the gums and is held in place with clasps or elastic bands in the back of the mouth.
If you’ve lost your teeth, you will experience problems with performing various actions. Luckily, there are solutions available that can give you back the ability to do all those things. The most common reasons people choose dentures are:
Comfort: Chewing and eating can be difficult when you’re missing teeth. Replacing them with dentures will bring more stability to the jaw, meaning less strain on the jaw muscles.
Appearance: What better way to improve your smile than giving you a perfectly restored look?
Cleanliness: Dentures fit closely and are easy to clean.
Communication: A denture can help you communicate more clearly. For example, if you’ve lost your front teeth, you may experience problems pronouncing certain syllables. With dentures, it will be easier to speak.
A dentist or oral surgeon is usually responsible for picking the best option. Making this decision is important because the kind of replacement will depend on different factors, including the following:
Your lifestyle: These are the kind of food you eat and the chewing frequency.
Your personality: These are your preferences regarding appearance, function, comfort, and cost.
Your dentist will discuss these factors with you to determine which option is best for your needs.
Here are our top five options for replacing missing teeth.
A dental implant is a small post made of titanium surgically placed in your jaw. The post is then coated with an artificial tooth, called an abutment, and topped off with a crown.
Because of their attachment to bone anchors, dental implants are sturdier than your average dentures. This allows for greater stability when you’re chewing food.
They are beneficial when a patient lacks strong natural teeth roots that can allow building dentures or bridgework tooth replacements.
In addition to the lack of strong natural teeth roots to accommodate bridgework, dental implants can be the right option under the following conditions:
A complete denture replaces all the teeth from one arch, upper or lower. Also called traditional dentures, this is one of the least expensive missing teeth solutions but requires more care and maintenance than other options like implants.
They require intensive health care.
Complete dentures are often made from acrylic resin, a plastic material that allows your dentures to move when you are talking and chewing.
They are used to provide a restoration that looks natural and feels comfortable.
In addition to complete dentures, partial dentures are also a common option for replacing teeth. Partial dentures are designed to make replacement of a single arch, such as the lower arch, leaving the upper arch intact and functioning as they were before the loss of teeth.
Partial dentures are less expensive than complete dentures. They provide an opportunity to replace some of your teeth to restore the appearance of your mouth and improve your chewing ability.
Partial dentures are also made of acrylic resin and can move freely as you chew and talk, eliminating some of the problems with complete dentures.
If you have partial dentures, it is essential to maintain a healthy diet with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables to keep your teeth and gums strong.
Although partial dentures do not seem as natural as complete dentures, they are designed to provide patients with strong functional teeth that can reduce or eliminate the need for gum surgery.
A bridge is a metal framework cemented to the teeth on either side of the missing tooth or teeth, forming a span across the gap.
Bridges can restore your appearance and confidence in your smile. While they do not provide for highly increased chewing ability like implants, you’ll be able to chew more foods than with a gap between your teeth.
Depending on the type, bridges will generally cost you between $1,500 and $5,000.
There are two types of bridges.
Natural teeth anchor these bridges on either side of a gap. Tooth-supported bridges provide a similar realistic look and feel to that of dental implants. They are different from implants-based options in that no invasive surgery is required, and hence they are economical and won’t take much time to heal.
However, the adjacent teeth to the gap require crowning. A major drawback of this approach is that the adjoining teeth risk suffering damage after some time, especially if the bridge was poorly fitted.
Another disadvantage is that they require thorough cleaning to avoid infection. This is due to the unwanted presence of food particles that may slip underneath the bridge.
In an implant-supported bridge, the artificial teeth are secured to dental implants on either side of the gap. They are an economical option for replacing several missing teeth in a row and boast of being equally effective as a dental implant.
However, implant-supported bridges are not a permanent solution, and the placement demands several visits to your dentist.
A dental flipper is a flexible retainer attached between the teeth to hold them in place for aesthetic and functional purposes. They belong to the class of $399 dental implants.
Dental flippers are very similar to partial dentures in that they can restore the appearance of the mouth and improve chewing ability. However, they differ from partial dentures in the following ways:
There are many other missing teeth solutions available to patients wishing to repair their smiles. You can easily find them on our website or search for dental implants near me on Google.
At Southland Dental Care, we provide the highest level of dental care and fix missing tooth in many patients and communities. Our dentists strive to provide the best solution to any dental condition you may have. If you are looking for the best dental implants near me in Los Angeles, you are home.
We even provide advanced techniques for replacing a missing tooth, such as all on 4 dental implants, all on 6 dental implants, full mouth dental implants, and full arch dental implants. If you visit us, you’ll realize that replacing a missing tooth has never been this cheap.
Contact us today to schedule an appointment or get a free estimate on all dental implants Los Angeles.