Most people associate missing teeth with old age – the inevitable wear and tear that leads to replacement crowns and maybe further down the line a full set of dentures. As we age we have to accept the breakdown of the body and that everything isn’t as sprightly as it used to be.
However, this isn’t something you factor in when you’re in your 20s. Everything works great, you can push your body to its limits on a daily basis with little or no consequence. Except if you lose a tooth. Contact and extreme sports such as hockey, snowboarding and mountain biking are an easy way to knock out a tooth or two and then you are immediately faced with a so-called problem of old age – and several decades to live with it.
Wearing a denture for the rest of your life isn’t an appealing prospect, especially if it’s your front teeth. Dentures rely on suction to the gums for their stability and as the gums recede over time, they become loose. Wearing even a partial denture can affect speech and food choices – certain crunchy and chewy foods can be off the menu.
Once a tooth is lost, the jawbone starts to deteriorate. It can lose up to 25% of its density in the first year after a tooth is lost. This can cause the face to sag. And if the gap isn’t filled, surrounding teeth may start to drift into it and also become loose.
How to prevent having to deal with these premature problems of old age? Dental implants in Harley Street replace the root as well as the crown, so it’s just like having your natural tooth back. They are screwed into the jawbone and secured there by osseointegration – the body views the implant as natural tissue and therefore bonds with it, growing blood vessels and bone around it. So, no more avoiding certain food, no more gum or jawbone shrinkage and no more speech impediment.
Dental implants in Harley Street give you the confidence to live without care again. Talk to the implant surgeon here at Harley Street Dental Clinic about how implants can help you today.