Benefits of a Dental Implant Procedure
Like it or not, we live in a society that values our appearance. Whether that means having a haircut and color that reflects your style or clothing that tells people about your personality, the way we present ourselves makes an impact on those around us. You likely care for your skin and exercise to keep your body fit to look as young as you feel! An often overlooked aspect of personal appearance is how much missing teeth can age your look. At Dental Designs of Maryland, we are experienced in placing dental implants to rejuvenate your smile in the Hanover, Perry Hall, and White Marsh Maryland communities.
What is a Youthful Smile?
In our culture, youth is often associated with beauty. In terms of dentistry, children generally have teeth that are smooth, pearly white, and have a natural sheen that is missing in permanent teeth. This is based on differences in the makeup of the teeth, but is also due to the fact that children’s teeth have not seen the same wear, erosion, and stain as adult teeth. Healthy gums that are coral pink surround the teeth to create a beautiful contrast, and lips are plump and expressive. When we envision a youthful smile, these are the characteristics that come to mind.
What Missing Teeth Can Do To Your Smile
Whether you’ve had teeth extracted due to decay or fracture, or even multiple teeth missing due to trauma like a car accident or a fall, missing teeth have a strong impact on your smile and overall appearance. Regardless of cause, having teeth missing causes a variety of problems from shifting teeth to bone loss, however in visual terms, it may add years to your appearance and affect your self confidence! Below are some negative affects to having missing teeth that can be fixed at Dental Designs of Maryland with a cosmetic dental implant procedure:
- Crooked Teeth – The teeth fit in like puzzle pieces and having even one missing tooth could cause all the nearby teeth to move into the newly empty space. This can set off a chain reaction of events that may change your bite and cause a multitude of other issues as well as aging your smile.
- Gaps – Aside from the issue of nearby teeth moving, having a large gap in your teeth can be unsightly and diminish a lot of the youthfulness of your smile and overall demeanor.
- Periodontitis, Gum Disease, and Decay – Having missing teeth, malaligned teeth causes problems with maintaining oral hygiene due to the extra space. This in turn may cause recession and gum disease, which further causes the tooth to look longer because more root surface becomes exposed. Root surfaces are prone to decay and can present with decay that looks brown or black.
- Change In Facial Appearance – Losing teeth in your mouth may actually change the shape of your face! This is because teeth serve to maintain the bone level in the jaw where they are anchored. Without them, bone in your jaw no longer has the necessary stimulus and blood supply needed to maintain, and shrinks. This causes the “sucked-in” look that a lot of edentulous senior citizens have whereby the distance from nose to chin collapses, the lip rolls inward because it’s no longer supported by any teeth, and skin sags on the cheeks and jowls.
How a Dental Implant Procedure Can Rejuvenate Your Youthful Appearance
The old saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is never truer than when talking about implants. The truth is, keeping your own natural teeth for life by taking care of them is the best case scenario for preserving a youthful smile. When that isn’t possible, dental implants can restore your smile to its original youthful appearance. An implant replaces missing teeth and unlike all other types of restoration, is placed into the jaw bone itself. It becomes integrated and fused into the bone, and prevents the stimulation the jaw bone needs to preserve facial bone. A beautiful porcelain crown is attached to the implant which is shape and color matched to your existing teeth. This restoration looks, functions, and feels just like a real tooth. If you have multiple teeth missing in one area, an implant-supported dental bridge can be used where an implant is placed at each end of the empty space, to ‘bridge’ the missing middle tooth. The bridge has crowns that are attached over the implants on either side holding an artificial tooth in place between them. This can be a good solution for those with 3-4 missing teeth in a row. Similarly, implants can act as anchors that are attached to a denture or even a long span bridge that replaces the entire arch of teeth. These treatments are called overdentures and hybrid dentures, and are provided through our board certified periodontist Dr. Joshua Metzger at our White Marsh, MD and Hanover, MD locations. Using four to six specially designed implant attachments, your new denture can be solidly anchored into your mouth, allowing you to eat foods that were not possible with regular dentures. Give your smile the attention it deserves with dental implant treatment at Dental Designs of Maryland. We serve the Hanover, Perry Hall, and White Marsh Maryland communities and are excited to see you!