If you’ve lost teeth, or are about to have some extracted, you’re facing many new limitations. You might only be able to eat soft foods because eating anything else causes you discomfort. You might not be able to speak clearly and naturally. You can smile but the idea embarrasses you—especially if the missing teeth are in your smile zone. Your face may even take on a sunken, aged appearance if your tooth loss leads to bone recession.
There are many solutions to recover your smile, including dental bridges and dental implants, which offer the function and aesthetics of real teeth, jaw protection, and unequaled longevity. You may be surprised at how quickly you’re able to eat, speak, laugh, and smile again once your teeth are replaced by our team at Grandridge Dental. If you have failing or missing teeth in Kennewick, WA, reach out, we’ll help you find the tooth replacement solution you need for a complete, confident, and healthy smile.
If treatment like root canals, gum disease treatment, and restorative dentistry are ineffective, damaged, infected, and failing teeth, should be removed to protect your dental health and even systemic health. Unless they’re wisdom teeth or extra teeth that are causing overcrowding in your mouth, most teeth should be replaced after removal. Apart from the ways tooth loss can decrease your quality of life, it can also trigger a sort of “domino effect” in your health. Without natural tooth roots stimulating healthy bone growth, your bone will begin to deteriorate beneath the empty tooth socket. This will spread and can even lead to additional tooth loss in adjacent teeth. Replacing your tooth before extensive bone loss can occur will help prevent unnecessary additional harm as well as the need for bone grafting procedures. If your bone is stable enough or has received bone reconstructive treatment, you’ll have the option between dental bridges, dentures, and dental implants for your new, complete smile.
For one missing tooth or a series of missing teeth, dental bridges are frequently the first solution many patients think of. Dental bridges are made of a series of crowns that span the gap left behind by tooth loss. Requiring one or more adjacent teeth as the foundation of the bridge, called the abutment teeth, this solution requires that we remove some of the enamel of this tooth, or teeth, when placing your dental bridge in Kennewick, WA. Once placed, this solution is aesthetic and prevents adjacent teeth from shifting.
Dentures are a time-tested, economical solution to tooth loss. They fit over your gums and stay in place either through suction or adhesive creams but can also be removed. You can have full or partial dentures; full dentures cover entire arches of teeth, essentially replacing all your teeth while partial dentures take the place of a few missing teeth in a row or throughout an arch.
For additional stability, dentures can be anchored in your jawbone by dental implants. Implant supported dentures won’t slip out of place or irritate your gums and offer healthy bone stimulation. They also enable you to eat a greater variety of foods than standard dentures do.
The best overall tooth replacement option available today is dental implants. They are the most natural-looking solution that can also last decades with proper care. Dental implants can replace one tooth, multiple teeth, or a full arch of teeth. Comprised partly of artificial tooth roots, they protect your jawbone from deterioration and thus your facial shape from changing. What’s more, they allow you to eat anything you want—hard foods, sticky foods, chewy foods, and whatever your favorites might be.
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