Dental Implants: Key To Winning Smile By Sharon Bell At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

For “dental cripples” who are bothered by missing teeth, dentures or bridges may sound like a favorable option. However, these devices don’t look or feel like natural teeth and they can irritate the gums.

Healthy adjacent teeth also have to be destroyed to accommodate these restorative devices. What’s more, loose or ill-fitting dentures may fall while you’re talking or laughing, leading to embarrassing situations. They also have to be adjusted periodically since dentures won’t prevent the jawbone from shrinking which normally happens when you lose teeth.

“Patients with dentures lose a great deal of chewing efficiency and a considerable amount of taste sensation. Full dentures need to be repaired and periodically checked for wear and tear. The plastic denture doesn’t change, but as time goes by the tissues under the denture do change, and this leads to loosening of the dentures, sore spots, and potentially dangerous chronic irritations that may be a factor in oral cancer. The gums and jawbones, even without teeth, can develop cysts, tumors, and infections,” said Drs. Marvin J. Schissel and John E. Dodes in “The Whole Tooth.”

“Perhaps the most common cause of denture problems is unrealistic patient expectations. Patients should be taught exactly what to expect from a completed denture. They should be cautioned that the denture is not bolted into place but merely rests on the tissues; certain movements of the mouth will dislodge it,” they added.

Fortunately, there’s a better way to restore missing teeth: dental implants. Since they were developed over 50 years ago by Swedish scientist and orthopedic surgeon Professor Per-Ingvar Branemark, dental implants have helped close to million toothless people worldwide.

Unlike dentures that can last for only a few months or years, dental implants are made of titanium and last a lifetime. They are surgically implanted into the jawbone and left there for about six months for osseointegration to take place. This is the process wherein the implants fuse or attach to the bone. An abutment or small metal post is later attached to each implant serving as the foundation for new replacement teeth.

While the technology is new, dental implants were used thousands of years ago by the ancient Egyptians. Now they are extensively used in the United States, Europe, Japan, Korea, and other countries. In the western world, over 2 million dental implants were performed in 2003. The worldwide market for dental implants is expected to reach $3.5 billion in 2010, making it the fastest growing segment of the global dental market.

“With oral health improving and people living longer, the number of teeth to be maintained is increasing at a rate faster than the population is growing. Increasing retention of teeth has created new needs and greater demand (for implants). As adults retain more teeth, they experience a greater severity of periodontal involvement which is the leading cause of tooth loss,” revealed Anne Anscomb, author of the study “Implant-Based Dental Reconstruction: The Worldwide Implant and Bone Graft Market.”

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