One of dentistry’s most important advances in recent years has been dental implants. In Sutton Coldfield, they are playing an important role in the overall health and wellbeing of people who have lost teeth.
At its most fundamental level, dentistry is all about making sure we keep our teeth as long as possible, and if we lose them, finding the best materials and techniques with which to build and insert false teeth that work as well as the natural teeth they are replacing.
For centuries, people have had to make do with false teeth that do nowhere near as good a job as natural teeth. They can’t bite and chew nearly as well. They don’t look real. And they don’t stay put.
A transformation in dental treatment of tooth loss
All that changed in the 1950s when a Swedish scientist discovered that implants made of titanium are so biocompatible that they integrate with the body and can’t then be removed.
Over the last 40 years, since dental implants first came on the market, there have been huge strides in design and techniques, such that now dental implants in Sutton Coldfield can be used to replace almost any teeth in any mouth. The only sticking points revolve around the health of the jawbone.
The importance of a healthy jaw
Implants need a healthy jawbone to integrate with. People used to get turned away if they’d lost too much density in their jawbone, or had uncontrolled type 2 diabetes or smoked.
Now, it is possible to beef up the jawbone with bone grafts or insert implants through it into the dense cheekbones above. Smoking is still a no-no as it impedes the healing that is vital to implant integration.
At Sutton Dental & Implant Clinic, in Sutton Coldfield, dental implants can be used to replace single teeth, up to three teeth in a row, or even a whole arch of teeth. They can also be used to stabilise dentures, which is a great halfway treatment.
Once the implants are in place, they last for the rest of your life if you take good care of them. They cannot decay, but they can fall victim to gum disease, so a good oral care routine is vital to their upkeep.