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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.
Complete
tooth loss may result in collapse of the bone structure supporting
the lower third of your face as your jaws deteriorate over
time. This can lead to the collapse of the lower third of
your face and the appearance of premature aging of the face.
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 dentures, do not preserve bone or the
shape of your face.
Traditional
methods of complete tooth replacement have many disadvantages.
Removable complete dentures may accelerate bone deterioration.
As the bone disappears, the complete denture no longer fits,
which can impair your quality of life. Complete dentures may
result in difficulty in chewing due to poor stability, the
need for denture adhesives, and pain from poor fitting dentures.
In extreme cases, people who wear ill-fitting complete dentures
may avoid social contact, have unhealthy diets and suffer
from painful sores in their mouth.
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Today,
dental implant treatment is the preferred method of tooth
replacement. Dental implants can replace missing tooth roots,
helping to preserve the bone in the jaws and the original
shape of the face. Patients may decide to use implants to
completely support a fixed bridge or utilized them to aid
in the support of an overdenture. Dental implants can eliminate
the pain of ill-fitting dentures and the need for adhesives.
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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