The Internet has changed the world in ways that hadn’t been imagined 30 years ago. (Example A: You are reading this on a dentist’s online website.)
Wifi expanded the reach of the Internet, and now it’s something we almost take for granted. Wifi works best when we don’t even notice it, and we usually don’t notice it unless there is a problem.
Dental implants are kind of the same way. The full benefits of having dental implants occur when we don’t think about them being there.
Instead, you just smile and take another bite of your meal just like you did when you still had all your teeth.
Here To Help The Stars
We know that dental implants are a wonderful service for any patient who visits our dentist office in Monroe, LA. Our staff at Bayou Dental Group will be glad to answer any questions you may have about them.
We have been trying to come up with a good analogy for implants, and we haven’t really come up with a perfect one.
Implants are not the star of Broadway show. They are more like the crew that builds to set so the show can be performed.
Implants are not like the quarterback as the public face of the team. Instead, implants are more like the trainers who work to keep the players healthy and strong so they can perform their best.
We understand what dental implants can do, and we want them to help anyone who needs to replace one or more teeth.
Staying Strong
There’s a saying among people who are really into fitness. “Use it or lose it.”
For a long-distance runner, this can mean continuing to run mile after mile to maintain his or her stamina for the next race that he or she is training for.
For a powerlifter, this could mean continuing to lift heavy weights to sustain the strength needed for competitions.
For a football player, this could mean continuing to practice skills that he learned in high school in order to remain at the top of his game.
The same principle applies to your jawbone, believe it or not. Your jaw and teeth are part of a team. When that team is working together, it keeps your jaw healthy and strong.
Your teeth — more specifically, the roots of your teeth — play a key role in this process. Throughout your life, your jaw will resorb old tissue and replace that with new tissue as long as it gets the signal to do so.
Think of it as a factory that continues to make widgets as long as it keeps receiving new orders for them. If those orders stop, then the factory stops making more.
When you lose a tooth, part of your jaw stops getting those orders for new bone tissue. As you lose more teeth, less of your jawbone is making new bone tissue.
The problem is that your jaw will continue to resorb the old tissue. If that tissue isn’t replaced, then your jaw will get smaller and smaller.
Dental implants keep this process going. When an implant is placed into your jaw, it becomes your new root for all practical purposes. The implant sends the order that new bone tissue is needed, and your jawbone responds by making that new tissue.
Holding The Line
When your jawbone is healthy and strong, this means your implants are more secure and stable as well.
And that helps the rest of your teeth, too.
You are probably aware that teeth can be moved. This is the basis for orthodontic care.
But you may not be aware that your teeth move every day. You generally don’t notice those changes because as your teeth move, they push into one another.
This mutual pressure effectively keeps your teeth in the same relative positions from day to day.
So what can happen if you remove just one of those teeth? Those small pressures can cause teeth to drift into the open space created by a lost tooth.
That drifting can affect how well you are able to bite and chew food. Over time, the drifting (combined with the loss of bone mass in your jaw) can lead to more lost teeth.
Getting a dental implant or implants to support a dental crown or bridge can stop you tooth loss before it gets worse.
By replacing your missing tooth, you now have something to push back on your teeth and keep them where you want them to stay.
Keep Smiling
A lost tooth can become lost teeth or a lost row of teeth if you don’t take steps to replace what is missing.
A well-placed dental implant from Bayou Dental Group could save you from additional problems. If you have questions about dental implants or tooth replacement, please contact us online or call 318-323-9303.