When you lose a tooth, you start thinking about how you need to replace it. When you lose multiple teeth, you start to think about two things: how you got to this point, and then how to replace those teeth. We can answer one of those questions pretty easily. If you want a replacement option that is as good as your natural teeth, you want to get dental implants from Smile Design Dental in Newburgh, NY. Dr. Petrosino will help you determine what implant option will help you and best suit your needs. Trust your smile to Dr. Petrosino, and get a wonderful smile for life.
Where Did Dental Implants Come From?
Dental implants have been around in one form or another for more than 1,400 years. The ancient Mayans used seashells and hard minerals as replacements for teeth that were lost. While these implant attempts were less effective than the implants of today, they still showed evidence of bonding with the jawbone structure. This is important because it shows that your body wants to do all it can to replace any tooth it loses. Your body knows how important your teeth are and how important their job is. Your body wants to have a full set of teeth – you just have to give it the right type of replacement.
The Accident That Changed Everything
The unique ability of titanium dental implants to completely bond with the jawbone was found by accident in 1952. Dr. Per-Ingvar Brånemark was actually studying the blood flow within bones of rabbits when he found out about the bonding trait that we call osseointegration. Brånemark had placed titanium chambers in the femurs of the rabbits. When he went to remove them, he found they would not come out without breaking the bone, and he noted that the break always was in the bone itself, not between the implant and the bone. This meant that the implant was able to literally become part of the bone structure, hence the term osseointegration (“bone” “to make whole”). Brånemark took this concept and applied it to dental implants. The first patient he treated with titanium dental implants was in 1965, and it took six months for the patient to heal from the procedure. What is even more amazing is that those first implants lasted for 40 years!
Three Votes For Dental Implants
When considering your teeth replacement options to replace multiple teeth, you basically have two choices, removable dentures and dental implants. So, how do you choose? Which option is better for your situation? Dr. Petrosino will be the first to sing the praises of dental implants because there are three distinct ways that implants are able to help you and your mouth beyond the capabilities of dentures.
Stability – Traditional dentures are great for giving you a full row of teeth but are not great for keeping them in your mouth. You are stuck using messy denture adhesives that are able to give you only a moderate level of stability. You’ll find yourself worrying about whether your teeth are going to move while you chew, talk, and laugh. Dental implants, on the other hand, can give you the same type of stability that you would have had if you’d never lost your teeth. This stability is directly attributed to titanium’s osseointegration. This means that the implant actually becomes a part of the bone. There is no better way to give you the stability of real teeth than to act the same way your real teeth act.
Bone Health – Traditional dentures also do nothing to preserve the bone mass of your jaw. When you lose a tooth, it leaves a space open in your jawbone, as well as your smile. If that space isn’t filled with something, you will experience bone loss. If you lose many teeth, the accompanying bone loss can lead to the “pruned” face that you may have noticed in people without teeth. Dental implants are able to protect your dental structure from this type of damage. Inserted into your jawbone, these implants will fill the spaces left from your missing teeth and keep your jawbone safe and strong.
Longevity – Dentures last for several years, but that timeframe pales when compared to the decades of use you’ll experience from dental implants. With proper care, dental implants can last the rest of your life. That is the ultimate definition of longevity when it comes to a teeth replacement option.
Call our Newburgh, NY office today at 845-670-5423 to schedule your appointment. You can also use our convenient online form.