Without teeth, life can be a serious struggle. Tooth loss can make day-to-day tasks like speaking and chewing very difficult. As a result, people who suffer tooth loss often experience a lower quality of life. Thankfully, though, your Ankeny IA dentist, Dr. Amanda Foust, offers dentures as a solution to tooth loss and the struggles that accompany it. Dentures enable victims of tooth loss to speak clearly and break down food. By refusing to wear dentures, people can actually cause nutrition problems for themselves. Recent research has discovered that following tooth loss people often struggle with malnutrition. These struggles stem from the fact that without teeth many foods are very difficult to consume. Thus, tooth loss victims tend to avoid vegetables and many proteins and load up instead on carbohydrates. Unfortunately, a diet consisting only of carbohydrates does not provide adequate nutrition, and these people struggle with health problems as a result.
In addition to dietary choices, tooth loss can affect nutrition because when food arrives in the stomach it is not broken down well enough. As a result, the body has a harder time extracting nutrients from it. You can, therefore, see just how important teeth are to your health and why wearing dentures is so important when teeth are lost.
Dentures and Self-Esteem
In addition to affecting your health, tooth loss can also sap self-confidence. When teeth are lost, the face loses some of its underlying support. Thus tooth loss can result in a sunken appearance, aging the face many years. People may also feel embarrassed to smile without teeth, with the result that they will enjoy fewer positive emotions and may succumb to depression.
Dental Implants and Dentures
Although dentures provide tooth loss victims with many benefits, they can create some struggles as well. When dentures do not fit properly, they begin to slide in the mouth and may slip altogether, causing an embarrassing situation. As a solution to these problems, your Ankeny IA dentist, Dr. Foust, can support your dentures with dental implants. Acting as anchors for the dentures, the implants are surgically inserted into the jawbone. Making use of the stabilizing force of the jawbone, the implants prevent the dentures from moving.
About Dr. Amanda Foust: Dr. Amanda Foust is a graduate of the University of Iowa School of Dentistry. She opened Dental Impressions of Ankeny in 2006 and has since strived to bring quality dental care to area families. Patients can schedule an appointment with Dr. Foust by calling (515) 965-0230.
