How dental implants enable a dentist to replace missing teeth for life

How dental implants enable a dentist to replace missing teeth for life

05-04-2016

If you have lost one or more teeth, dental implants are the only permanent way your dentist can replace them. At Ralston Dental and Cosmetic Clinic in Leicester, our award-winning implant dentist Duncan regularly uses implants to replace one, some, and even all of patients’ natural teeth, giving them back their confidence to smile, their ability to eat what they choose, and indeed their enjoyment of life.

Patients present to our Leicester dental surgery having lost teeth for all manner of reasons. Tooth decay and gum disease, accidents and injuries can all result in tooth loss. As the population in general lives longer, more people are also discovering that they are outliving their natural teeth.

How dental implants work

Dental implants are bionic tooth roots, made out of titanium. Your dentist places them in direct contact with your jaw bone in a minor operation, carried out here under local anaesthetic or sedation here at our Leicester practice.

Your dental implants are then left to heal and integrate with your jaw bone. Titanium is used because it is osteoconductive – meaning it supports bone growth – and is very compatible with the body. After this healing period, which is typically a couple of months, you will be called back to our Leicester practice so that your dentist can attach your new teeth – a single crown in most cases when one tooth needs replacing, and either an implant-retained bridge or denture when several or all of your teeth have to be replaced.

The advantages of implants

Dental implants have several advantages of standard bridges and dentures. They help to prevent bone loss, which can lead to traditional dentures becoming loose. Implants and attached restorations look and act just like natural teeth, and are designed to last for many years – perhaps even a lifetime.