Natural tooth replacement – Dental Implants and Bridges

Missing teeth

A tooth may need to be removed due to trauma, extensive decay or infection. Gum disease is also a major cause of tooth loss hence we recommend regular hygiene therapy with our therapist.

A missing tooth may look unsightly if at the front of the mouth. Missing teeth at the rear of the mouth can cause functional problems with chewing and speaking. Another problem with missing teeth is that they may initiate drifting of neighbouring teeth. This would result in gaps appearing in between your natural teeth – creating further problems with your general dental health.

Natural tooth replacement – Dental Implant or Bridge?

A tooth replacement will prevent any of the problems associated with missing teeth. The bridge is an option that usually involves preparing the neighbouring teeth in order to ‘hold’ the artificial tooth in place. This preparation process will result in permanent removal of healthy tooth tissue on the neighbouring tooth. This has the potential to cause future problems with the neigbouring teeth.

The advantage of a dental implant is that is does not rely on the neigbouring teeth for support. The artificial tooth replacement will actually get it’s support from the implant which will be inserted in to the bone. Hence, the implant will act like a tooth root and allow the tooth replacement to function independently from the other teeth – just how natural teeth behave. This characteristic of dental implants make them a superior choice to tooth replacement over bridges in most cases.

• Dr Mohsin Patel