Gentle Dentist Geelong

Posted on 15 February, 2022 by Micheal Alexander

Replacing teeth and dental implants

Although modern dental treatment and technology has improved in leaps and bounds, many people are out-living their teeth. It is also a fact that accidents happen and individual teeth may have to be lost. Replacement is recommended and not just for aesthetic reasons; missing teeth often cause the surrounding ones to destabilise and work harder. Gentle Dentist Geelong

Options for Tooth Replacement

Deciding on a dental replacement method depends on a range of factors; a few things to consider are budget, which or how many teeth need replacement, and permanence and ease of maintenance.

Dentures

Dentures provide a good option but they have their own set of issues. They can become loose fitting over time as bone is lost, they can pull down the health of adjacent teeth and affect the enjoyment of foods. Cobalt chrome or ‘slimline dentures are the most comfortable and sustainable for the long term, particularly if there are adjacent teeth to clip to. Acrylic or ‘plastic’ dentures are a good short term measure and usually what full dentures are made of.

Dental Implants

Dental implants have a lot to recommend them. They are very long lasting and pretty trouble free. They do not drag down the health of adjacent teeth, are comfortable and you cannot get dental caries or ‘holes’ in them, as with natural teeth. In the right situation and done well, they can be very natural looking. They do however require a lot of components and further training, making them costly. Interestingly though, over their service life, the research indicates they are cheaper than other fixed methods. Since the process of integration’, where the body accepts and joins with the implant takes a few months, ímplants can be slower than other methods of tooth replacement. Dental Surgeon Geelong

Bridges

Bridges are another method that may be recommended in situations where surgery is to be avoided or where there is no bone. They are fixed, can look good and the process is relatively short but because they involve whittling down neighbouring teeth have a high biological cost. When they do fail, often the neighbouring teeth are lost too. For small gaps at the front there are some bridges when involve no or little ‘whittling down’ of adjacent teeth but these are usually short to medium term solutions.