Earlier this month, we posted a video with our own Dr. Justin Emami discussing the desire that many patients have to be able to eat the foods that they enjoy eating.
Losing teeth certainly makes this more difficult. Fortunately, restorative dentistry has given us a great way to help our patients in and around Tulsa, OK, eat whatever they want to eat.
Dental implants are an important part of this treatment in many cases. Today, we want to explain why they may be able to help you, too.
Creating A Foundation
Healthy teeth consist of crowns and roots. The crowns are the part of your teeth that are visible when you smile. They also are the part of your teeth used to bite and chew your food.
Your roots are embedded in your jawbone. This keeps your teeth securely in place. It also connects your crowns to your jawbone, which allows you to put more power behind each bite and each chew.
On average, a healthy human creates between 200 and 250 pounds of pressure with his or her bite. That’s more than enough to bite into an apple or chew a piece of steak.
Losing teeth doesn’t just create an empty space in your smile. It also takes away that connection to your jawbone. Traditional dentures rest outside your gums. This is part of the reason why eating can be more difficult with dentures alone.
To restore your biting force, you need to recreate the connection that your teeth had with your jawbone. This is where dental implants come into play.
Implants are designed to replace the roots of your missing teeth. Like roots, implants are placed directly into your jaw. A series of implants can be used to support and secure a set of dentures.
And studies have shown that, with a little time, implants can help bring back nearly all of a patient’s original biting power.
Take A Bite
Let’s imagine trying to eat an apple with dentures.
When you first get your dentures, they should fit comfortably in your mouth. Depending on the apple, you may or may not be able to take a bite without your dentures slipping loose.
Regardless, this will likely become more difficult with time. You see, without roots or implants, your jawbone will be shrinking.
Without getting too detailed, we’ll just say that when you eat with teeth, your roots push into your jawbone. This causes stimulation that leads to new bone tissue growth. That keeps your jaw healthy.
Without roots or dental implants to replace them, your jaw won’t receive the pressure it needs to make new tissue. This also affects the shape of your mouth, and that affects how your dentures fit. Over time, this makes your dentures looser and more prone to coming loose no matter what you eat.
Let’s assume you are eating a steak. You will cut it into bite-sized pieces and place each bite in your mouth.
When you are chewing with traditional dentures, you may find you can’t grind down the food as well as you could when you had all your teeth. The instability of your dentures can make chewing more difficult. Some people even find that their jaws become sore from the extra effort required.
With dental implants, your dentures will remain securely in place. This also makes chewing similar to eating with natural teeth. As a result, you can enjoy eating the whole steak without feeling like you are straining your jaw.
All-on-4® Dental Implants
One of the biggest advances in restorative dentistry is the All-on-4 procedure, which we are proud to offer at our dentist office in Tulsa, OK. With All-on-4, four implants are carefully placed in your jaw so you can start enjoying the benefits sooner.
With other implant procedures, you may have to heal completely before your dentures are attached. With All-on-4, we are able to attach a set of temporary dentures on the same day you get your implants.
If you would like to learn more about implants or about the All-on-4 procedure, call 918.999.0142 or contact Galleria of Smiles with our online form.