Tooth loss can bring about more than just concerns about your appearance. Adjusting to biting and chewing with a gap in your smile can lead to frustration, as certain foods can be harder to enjoy, and you can experience pain and sensitivity from a change in your jaw movement. Through prosthetic dental work, patients who have lost teeth can return to a more comfortable and natural bite. This reduces potential issues with pain and stiffness while also allowing you to enjoy a wider range of foods without difficulty. If you have lost a tooth, or if you need to do something about the loss of several teeth, our Ankeny, IA dentist’s office can meet with you to discuss prosthetic dental work with dental implants. Dental implants keep restorations set in place so that you can trust them to contribute to your bite function.
Tooth Loss Can Create Real Problems For Your Dental Function
Being unable to bite and chew properly can lead to several frustrating issues. You may not realize it, but even a small change in your bite function can cause pain and difficulties with jaw movement. People who have let tooth loss go untreated can experience TMJ disorder, which makes them susceptible to pain, stiffness, and problems with teeth grinding that can lead to worsening oral health. Relying too much on your remaining teeth to do the work of biting and chewing can also become a problem because that increased leads to more wear and tear. This can weaken them and make the need for restorative dental work more likely.
Arranging Prosthetic Dental Work That Includes Implant Support
Dental implants make it possible to hold prosthetic appliances in place without modifying neighboring teeth. The implant occupies the space where a tooth’s roots used to reside. After the placement procedure takes place, the bone will gradually fuse with the implant while you heal. Once you have healed sufficiently, you can return to the dentist’s office to have a lifelike restoration affixed to the implant. Its placement will allow you to smile with renewed confidence while also trusting your prosthetic to absorb pressure when you bite and chew.
Other Options For Prosthetic Treatment
What else can you do to close a gap in your smile? With a dental bridge, we can keep a prosthetic appliance stable without the need to perform oral surgery. A pair of dental crowns are included in the design of a bridge. Through the placement of those crowns on teeth at either side of your smile gap, the bridge can be relied on to stay in position and support your bite!
Discuss Implant Dentistry At Our Ankeny, IA Dentist’s Office
Through prosthetic treatment, your dentist can close a gap in your smile caused by tooth loss. In addition to giving you more confidence in your smile, this will give you more support for your bite function, which can have long-term benefits for your dental health! To learn more, contact Dental Impressions at (515) 965-0230 to schedule a visit.
