If you’re missing teeth or struggling with unhealthy teeth, you may wonder which treatment makes more sense for you, and if it’s worth the investment. How important is it to replace faulty teeth and do dentures vs dental implants make a better choice for you?
Do Decayed or Missing Teeth Really Need to Be Replaced?
You might get by with missing teeth as your gums seem to toughen up to help chew harder foods. And you might get by with cracked, decaying teeth until they fall out and become missing. But neglecting these gaps or teeth can wreak havoc on your mouth and body in many ways.
Just one missing or decayed tooth can leave surrounding gums and teeth vulnerable to food getting stuck and bacteria entering your saliva and system. Plus, neighboring teeth may move to fill in the gap, potentially causing a shift in your entire jawbone over time. Then as your teeth shift and become more volatile, they become more likely to decay and fall out.
That’s why neglecting even just one unhealthy tooth can start a slippery downward spiral.
When you live with one or several unhealthy or missing teeth over a long period of time, you are putting yourself at risk for a number of challenges, including:
- A shift in your jawbone can impair your speech and change your facial structure.
- You may lose confidence and become more introverted or even antisocial.
- You may become unable to chew nutritious foods needed to keep your body healthy and to ward off obesity.
- You may become more susceptible to gum disease, which has been linked to heart disease and diabetes.
Instead of ‘getting by’ with decrepit teeth, be proactive and consider getting dentures or dental implants to keep your mouth, mind and entire body healthier.
So Are Dentures vs Dental Implants Better for You?
Dentures involve a removable partial or full set of teeth to fill in the gaps between your natural teeth. Dental implants may replace a single tooth or a full set also. But they are installed permanently into your jawbone using a screw and then capping that with a crown to closely match your natural enamel color.
Both dentures and implants can fill in the gaps to keep you from entering that dangerous downward spiral of missing teeth.
In fact, nearly 50 million Americans wear dentures or partials, according to Elders in Action: Tips to make dentures or partials feel more natural. Dentures cost less than implants and you may remove them easily as needed.
Dental implants have gained in popularity recently and serve as a more permanent treatment. Although they cost more up front, implants tend to offer more advantages than dentures because they:
- won’t slip or move, giving you more confidence when speaking, eating and even kissing.
- maintain the health of surrounding teeth since they are anchored to your jawbone instead of relying on the surrounding teeth. Plus they allow normal chewing activity to maintain bone growth whereas some partials may block your natural teeth from this chewing exposure.
- tend to last longer, which could save time and money on more visits to maintain dentures otherwise.
Of course, you should always consult with your dentist to determine whether dentures vs dental implants make a wiser choice for you, depending on your mouth and needs.
At The Happy Tooth, we staff dentists and orthodontists in one office so we can help you make an educated decision and provide the treatment desired as conveniently as possible. We want to make your smile brighter from the inside out, and will do so whether implants vs dentures is your treatment of choice.
Call The Happy Tooth today to keep your teeth healthy and yourself happier!