Losing your teeth is among the hardest things you can go through. It doesn’t matter whether you’re 25 or 65 years old; it still has a significant impact on your day to day life and your self-esteem.
However, dental implants are an excellent solution, and more and more seniors are choosing this procedure as a permanent tooth loss solution.
Dental Implants? What Are They?
Dental implants use a non-degradable titanium post as an artificial root, and they’re placed in a healthy jaw bone. Over time, bone tissues surround the post, and they bond together permanently. As soon as the implant heals, your doctor can affix a prosthetic crown or tooth so that you can use your dental implants just like natural teeth.
Who Should Get Dental Implants?
Most people who have lost one or more teeth are good candidates for dental implants, but they’re not right for everyone. If a significant amount of time has passed since you lost your teeth, you might experience jawbone regression. This could require surgical procedures and a few months before your jaw bone is suitable for a dental implant.
Dental Implants Improve Quality of Life
Anyone with one or more missing teeth knows how much that can affect confidence with family, friends, and colleagues. Even worse, you might start avoiding regular dentist appointments which can lead to more problems with your teeth down the line, some of which can be quite serious.
Opting for dental implants will let your dentist do a complete examination of your mouth and teeth. And once your oral health is in check and you have that old smile back, you’ll realize how much they can boost the quality of life.
How Long Does the Procedure Last?
With good oral health and a healthy jaw bone, dental implants take no more than a few months from start to finish. Implanting the titanium posts takes about two hours, and then you have to wait a few months for your jaw bone to heal and fuse to the post itself. Once healed, you can get a crown fitted by your dentists in under an hour. Although it seems like a lot of time, the result lasts a lifetime.
Are Dental Implants Expensive?
Dental implants are certainly not the cheapest option around, and often dental insurance or Medicare won’t reimburse you for the full cost of treatment. However, other approaches to replacing missing teeth can be more expensive than dental implants. Worse yet, other procedures don’t feel or look as good, or last as long in comparison. For example, partial or full dentures often need to be replaced every few years. Moreover, there is a lot more day to day fuss around using them and keeping them clean.
Luckily, there are great financing options available to help pay for dental implants in installments that almost everybody can afford.
[1]https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-01-2011/the_bionic_mouth.html
[2]https://www.medicinenet.com/dental_implants/article.htm
