Dental implants are the best way to restore your smile permanently, with a long-lasting, natural prosthetic tooth. Dental implants have a number of benefits, and are often recommended for patients who have healthy mouths, and only require the replacement of a few missing teeth.

While they are somewhat more expensive than other dental procedures like dentures and dental bridges, dental implants are usually a better choice. Not sure if dental implants are right for you? Here are 4 signs that they may be the right option for restoring your teeth.

Dental implants are a surgical procedure, and usually only recommended when you have a good overall level of oral health. If you have periodontal disease, infected or decayed teeth, or any other oral health issues, you likely won’t be able to get a dental implant.

This is because dental implants must heal properly – without becoming infected – in order to bond permanently with the gum and jaw tissue. If your mouth is unhealthy, the risk of infection is much higher, which increases the risk of dental implant failure. 

Though dentures and dental bridges are inexpensive, and a reasonable way to replace multiple missing teeth, they are not truly permanent. Often, they must be replaced every 5-10 years. 

However, dental implants are completely permanent. A dental implant lasts 30+ years on average, and many patients will have their dental implants for the rest of their lives. 

This means that they are the best long-term solution for missing teeth, despite their initial high cost. Over the lifetime of a patient, a dental implant is often actually cheaper than a dental bridge or a partial denture. Click this great post to read more about Dental Implants.

Dental bridges and dentures often do not feel natural, or look natural once they are in place in your mouth. It takes time to get used to the wires and bridgework used in these treatments, and it may make you uncomfortable.

Dental implants look and feel completely natural. They are implanted into your gums, just like real teeth. They don’t slip or move, and the ceramic material used to shape the artificial tooth matches the surrounding teeth perfectly.

They also don’t require special care. All you have to do to care for a dental implant is brush and floss normally, and see your dentist for regular teeth cleanings and oral exams. That’s it.

Individual dental implants are often not the best choice for patients who are missing entire arches of teeth, such as people who have lost most of their teeth due to periodontal disease, or an impact injury like a car accident.

Each dental implant is quite expensive and takes several months to heal properly. This means that they are not an ideal way to restore an entire arch of teeth, as the process can take quite a long time.

However, there are other options if you are interested in dental implants for replacing multiple missing teeth.

Many dentists are offering implant dentures, which use 4-6 dental implants to hold a permanent set of dentures in place. This allows an entire arch of teeth to be restored quickly, and the implants hold the dentures in place, preventing them from shifting and moving.

Another option is an implant-based bridge. This dental bridge uses two dental implants to support your artificial teeth, which makes it a good alternative to a traditional bridge for patients who do not have healthy “abutment teeth” which can support the bridge.

Dental implants are not right for everyone. But if you are interested in a dental implant, and you recognize one or more of these signs, they just might be right for you! So consider this guide, and think about whether or not a dental implant is the best choice for your particular situation.