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A
beautiful smile enhances your overall appearance. It gives
you charisma, self-confidence and presence. The condition
of your teeth can impact your overall health because your
ability to chew helps to determine your food choices. The
condition of your teeth also affects your speech and your
comfort in talking with others. Healthy, attractive teeth
can contribute to a better quality of life.
Teeth
are lost for many reasons, such as cavities, gum disease,
cracked roots and accidents. When a tooth is lost, the bone
that surrounds the tooth root deteriorates, or melts away.
(It's similar to losing muscle when you don't work out.) That
is why missing teeth can compromise your eating habits, speech
and appearance.
Missing
teeth in the back of your mouth can lead to the collapse of
your bite. This affects the appearance of your face, your
ability to eat and the health of your remaining teeth.
Ideally
tooth replacement should preserve the shape of your face and
be as close as possible to your natural teeth in both function
and appearance. Unfortunately, traditional methods of tooth
replacement, such as bridges, partials and dentures, do not
preserve bone or the shape of your face.
Traditional
methods involve other disadvantages as well. For example,
in order to replace one missing tooth with a fixed bridge,
the adjacent teeth usually must be ground down to secure a
bridge in place. A bridge with three crowns is required, one
crown to replace the missing tooth and two crowns to cover
the ground down-down teeth. In addition to the damage to the
adjacent teeth, the bone deteriorates since the missing tooth
root is not replaced.
Additionally,
the average life span of traditional bridgework is approximately
seven years; dental implants could very well last a lifetime.
Removable
partial dentures may accelerate bone deterioration. As the
bone disappears, the partial denture no longer fits, which
can impair quality of life. In extreme cases, people who wear
ill-fitting partial dentures may avoid social contact, have
unhealthy diets and suffer from sores in their mouth.
Today,
dental implant treatment is the preferred method of tooth
replacement. Dental implants replace missing tooth roots,
helping to preserve the bone in the jawbones and original
shape of the face. They form a stable foundation for replacement
teeth that look, feel and function like you natural teeth.
Portions
of the above information provided as a courtesy by:
The
Straumann Company
Reservoir Place
1601 Trapelo Road
Waltham, MA 02451
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