How Dental Implants Can Improve Your Oral Health

The United States is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, but when it comes to dental care, it doesn’t rank very high. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that, by the time American teenagers turn 17, 7% have lost at least one permanent tooth to decay or gum disease. The number increases to 69% for adults aged 35-44; by age 50, they’ve lost an average of 12 teeth.

Tooth loss is more serious than you might think. It affects how you appear to others and how you feel about yourself, your oral health, and your overall health. There’s no upside to losing teeth.

At Fluegge Family Dentistry in East Wenatchee, Washington, Dr. Matthew Fluegge and his team specialize in placing dental implants as one of several tooth restoration options.  If you’ve lost teeth and are looking to restore your smile, here’s why implants are the gold standard and how they can improve your oral health.

Missing teeth impact your oral health

When you’re missing teeth, your oral health is put at risk, and research shows that the risk increases with each additional loss. Consequences of tooth loss include:

• Jawbone atrophy: bone needs chewing pressure to maintain mass
• Gum recession: creates pockets near the root that collect bacteria and weaken teeth on both sides of the gap
• Plaque build-up/tooth decay: bacteria have easy access to teeth surfaces next to gap
• Moving teeth: adjacent teeth move into the gap, leading to tooth misalignment and difficulty chewing and speaking

Aesthetically, missing teeth alter your facial structure: Your lips pucker inward, and your cheeks look hollow. This ages your face and can make you self-conscious about your appearance.

Restoration options

When most people lose a tooth, they look to a restoration option such as bridges, crowns, and dentures (partial and full) to fill the gap for aesthetic purposes.

Removable complete dentures, which fill an entire arch of missing teeth, are still popular. Essentially, a row of tooth-colored acrylic crowns attached to a gum-colored acrylic base sit on top of your gums and are held in place by suction or adhesive products. They’re less expensive than dental implants initially, but they have several drawbacks:

• Shift and click when you eat or speak
• Have to replace after 7-15 years
• Have to be removed for regular cleaning
• Don’t stimulate underlying bone

They can also take a bit of time to get used to. You need to learn how to bite and chew with an appliance instead of your natural teeth and where to place your tongue to speak properly.

How dental implants improve your oral health

Titanium dental implants, introduced in 1965, are now a burgeoning market due to their superiority over other restoration options. They’re permanent, whole-tooth replacements that look and function like your natural teeth.

The implant starts with a titanium screw that Dr. Fluegge inserts into the jawbone. The screw serves as the tooth’s “root,” anchoring the visible parts in the supporting bone. Once inserted, you need to wait about 3-4 months for the area to heal and for osseointegration — the bone’s fusion with the implant — to take place.

Once the area has healed, you come back to the office, and Dr. Fluegge attaches an abutment to the screw and tops it with a bridge, dental crown, or overdenture — a full arch of acrylic teeth that snap-lock onto the abutments. If you go this route, you do have to remove the overdenture each night to clean.

If you want the restoration to be completely permanent, you need the All-on-4® system. Using only four strategically placed implants, we anchor each post by pushing it through the denture material to insert it firmly into the bone. It’s the only implant procedure that provides patients with a fixed, full-arch prosthesis on the day of their surgery.

Implants’ increasing popularity comes from their advantages for your oral health:

• Acrylic used in the crown portion is resistant to acid and decay
• Stable, strong, and permanent rows of teeth, well-aligned and fit your mouth
• Fuse with your jawbone, acting as stable tooth roots
• Replicate the natural chewing force on your jaw, preventing bone atrophy
• Don’t require extra care beyond regular brushing, flossing, and dental check-ups

And good oral health makes you more likely to smile, showing off your pearly whites to the world.

If you’re missing teeth and want to find out if you’re a good candidate for dental implants, call Fluegge Family Dentistry at 509-888-3384 or book online with us today.