a lady smiling with dental implants in galway

The Dental Health Benefits of Dental Implants

Missing teeth don’t only affect your smile, but your continued dental health too. This is why we’re big believers in the benefits of dental implants because they restore your smile with natural-looking implanted teeth and also help to prolong your jaw and dental health. At Galway Dentists, we’ve put together a brief post on how dental implants improve your dental health!

 

Benefits for your jaw health

Your teeth are connected to your jawbone through individual tooth roots. Your jawbone and your teeth enjoy a symbiotic relationship, both remaining strong for the other through signals that are sent through the root. When a tooth is lost, the root dies and the jawbone stops receiving these signals, and the bone becomes complacent. This leads to bone resorption, where the bone breaks down, weakens and becomes spongy. Your face shape is affected, resulting in a sort of ‘caved in’ appearance to your jawline or cheeks, but so is your future suitability for dental implants because of the compromised bone strength. This weakened bone also affects the neighbouring teeth, threatening further tooth loss.

Dental implants use a titanium root that is embedded in your jawbone, and the metal invites your bone to heal around it through its biocompatible properties. Therefore, dental implants in Galway help to strengthen your jawbone and stop it from weakening after tooth loss!

 

Benefits for your gums

Losing a tooth also exposes an area of your gums that would otherwise be protected and sheltered, which impacts your dental health or more specifically your gum health. The sugars and bacteria in your mouth will irritate this exposed area of gum and increase your risks of developing gum disease, which is one of the leading causes of tooth loss. These irritated gums will appear puffy, red, sensitive, and may even begin receding from the bases of your teeth neighbouring the gap, causing them to look longer. This is actually a sign that the gum disease has worsened and you could risk losing more teeth this way.

When dental implants are used to replace missing teeth, they cover over the exposed and vulnerable areas of gum so that they are better protected against developing gum disease. Of course, you should always still floss and brush to prevent the onset yourself, but you lessen the risk of it developing in that area when you fill the gap in your teeth with a dental implant.

 

Benefits for your natural teeth

In the same way that missing teeth can lead to localised aggressive gum disease, leaving gaps in your smile can also affect your neighbouring teeth by heightening the risks of developing cavities and plaque build-up. Teeth are easier to clean when they are uniform because they form one big surface that is easy to clean all as one canvas. When you lose a tooth, surfaces of the neighbouring teeth that would otherwise be protected are now exposed. This allows more opportunities for plaque to build up and cause cavities, and because of the irregular surfaces and awkward angles they can be difficult to clean properly.

Dental implants close these gaps by replacing the missing tooth and therefore protect the otherwise exposed surfaces of your natural teeth. This will also help your natural teeth to not drift into the gap, which may cause problems with your bite and jaw health too. Supporting your natural teeth and covering over any exposed surfaces will always be beneficial to your dental health, and dental implants will help you with this.

 

Considering dental implants in Galway?

When considering dental implants in Galway, visit the dental professionals at Galway Dentists for high-quality and safe treatments. Contact Us to arrange your initial consultation on (091) 58 22 22 or email us directly at [email protected] today!

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