How do Dental Implants Work

dental_implantsWe have all heard the lore surround Benjamin Franklin’s wooden teeth. Can you imagine how cumbersome it must have been to wear those? How do you clean them properly and what about the fear of getting painful splinters in your gums and tongue? The thought of that situation sounds like the worst thing ever. It might be more comfortable to just have no teeth and rely on a diet of soft or liquid foods. The problem with losing teeth has been around for years and in the past there were not many options to rectify this ordeal. Maybe you have an early memory of seeing one of your grandparents early in the morning before they slipped in the false teeth that they kept in a glass by the bed. The memory might be etched in your mind of their pucker looking mouth without the non-descript teeth standard of the set of false teeth that were common for an entire generation. Modern dental practices have come up with much better options to create faux smiles that are better to look at.
The next step in dental repair was the bridge. This option sacrificed two additional, perfectly good teeth to fill in for one that was missing. It still was a removable piece and consisted of filing down two abutment teeth to nubs no matter how healthy they were. This process is less than ideal and terrible in the long run. So now we have dental implants. This amazing development has the best effect and comes closest to simulating real teeth. Not every part of getting implants is easy and wonderful but remembering that the final product is long-lasting and can fool anyone who does not have access to an x-ray machine is key. Getting implants takes some patience and several visits to the dentist as it is a many step process.
First the bad tooth or teeth need to be completely removed and there is a healing period of time that follows. After a sufficient amount of time a post will be placed in the bone of your jaw itself. This acts like an artificial root to anchor the tooth. It does take additional time and waiting for your jaw bone to heal around the set post, but this just makes it all the more permanent. Once the doctor checks and finds that your jaw has healed around the post, then you are ready for the crown of the implant to be attached. The end result is a something that looks exactly like a real tooth and functions as one would. You are able to floss and brush as you would normally. Eating foods like corn on the cob or steak is not a problem and no one is able to tell that the tooth is not real from looking at it. Only an X-ray can prove that your tooth is artificial.
So if you ever need an artificial tooth to fill in a gap in your smile, getting dental implants is truly the best way to replace it. You don’t ruin any of your other teeth needlessly nor will you ever be caught toothless in the wee hours or risk them slipping out from faulty adhesive. Your oral hygiene regimen will not have to change or be done in secret to prevent other from finding out your secret and your smile can remain an asset to your look.