One of the most eye-catching features of your appearance is your smile, and your teeth play a significant role. Chewing food, pronouncing words effectively, and defining facial features are all tasks best accomplished with a complete set of teeth. 

However, missing teeth can change the appearance of a person’s face and can make them feel self-conscious about smiling in public. Having missing teeth might also have negative effects on your general and oral health. Dental implants are quickly becoming one of the most popular options for restoring the appearance of a smile while also providing a wide range of additional benefits to the patient’s overall health.

When should one have dental implants?

Implants improve chewing, speaking, and dental health while enhancing your smile. Dental implants replace tooth roots with titanium or ceramic posts. The post is implanted into your jawbone before a crown, or artificial tooth is placed. Many choose this restorative dental procedure for numerous reasons. Dental implants may be right for you for these reasons.

1. Broken or Missing Teeth

When a tooth or teeth are lost, their roots no longer anchor the jawbone. Loss of jawbone structure caused by tooth loss can alter the appearance of the face and mouth. If nothing is done to replace a missing tooth, the teeth on each side of the gap will shift to fill it, putting unnecessary stress on the remaining teeth and possibly cracking them.

Professional dental care may not be able to save a tooth that has been severely broken or chipped. To avoid a gap in your smile, you may need to have a tooth extracted and a implant-supported dentistry surgery done.

2. Loose Dentures

The alternative to implants for replacing missing teeth is dentures, which can slip out of place at times. When teeth are missing for an extended period, the jawbone can shrink, and dentures can lose their original fit, causing various oral health issues.

As you age, your facial structure and jaw alignment may shift. If your dentures don’t fit, you may have trouble eating and speaking, mouth infections, jaw shrinkage, and inflammation. Dental implants fix dental issues, including dentures falling out at inconvenient times. Because implants are made to last, cosmetic concerns related to aging of the face diminish over time.

3. Infected Tooth

When a tooth becomes infected, it can be highly distressing. It’s typical for a tooth infection to extend down to the root, where it can harm the gums and bone supporting the tooth.

In most cases, your periodontist will want to save your natural tooth rather than replace it. However, there are cases where the affected tooth must be removed. For instance, your wisdom teeth have been infected, then a service for removal of wisdom teeth in San Jose, CA should be done. When a tooth is extracted, the socket it once occupied in the jawbone is left empty. This makes it possible to replace it with an implant.

4. Trouble Eating

It can be frustrating to find that eating your favorite dishes after losing teeth is more challenging, like salad and steak. Having lost teeth on one side of the mouth forces many people to restrict their chewing to just that side of the mouth. Dental implants can fill the gaps if you’re missing teeth so you can eat a balanced diet and savor your favorite foods again.

5. Aesthetics

People tend to feel anxious about their smiles when they miss teeth, have sunken faces, or are not content with the set of teeth they currently have. Or, if you wear dentures, you might have a different level of self-assurance than you did in the past. Dental implants are intended to restore your smile and give you the confidence to show off your teeth in public once again.