Dental implants are one of the most often-recommended methods of replacing missing teeth due to their realism and durability. Dentures and dental bridges are incredible, but by virtually every metric dental implants exceed them.
They’re so incredible that you may begin to wonder whether they’re actually an improvement to your natural teeth. While most dentists wouldn’t recommend pulling out healthy teeth, there are some benefits that dental implants have over enamel. Here are a few examples.
Resistance to Tooth Decay
Tooth decay is one of the most common oral health problems and keeping it at bay is one of the primary considerations in good dental hygiene. One of the nice things about dental implants is that they’re much less prone to this decay.
Cavities happen because of acid being secreted by bacteria in the mouth. Dental implants are typically made of porcelain, which is considerably more resistant to acid erosion than natural enamel.
Difficult to Break
Dental implants come in three pieces—the metal post, the porcelain restoration, and the metal abutment that connects the two. The metal components of dental implants make them very difficult to break, even more so than the natural teeth.
Of course, the ceramic restoration is just as susceptible to damage as your normal teeth would be. However, the dental implant as a whole is considerably stronger, at least from the perspective of defending against damage.
Easy to Replace
This has a little bit to do with the previous point, but once you have a dental implant, you’ll have to go through much less effort in order to replace it if the restoration should be damaged. If you split a natural tooth in half, you’ll have to endure dental implant surgery in order to replace it—if you already have implants, this is as simple as swapping out a piece of porcelain.
Again, it’s hard to advise that you remove your natural teeth for the sake of a dental implant. However, if it seems like getting a dental implant is in your future, there are plenty of perks to look forward to.
About the Author
In the nearly 20 years that Dr. Khushboo Gandhi has been in dentistry, her love for her field has only grown along with her clinical knowledge. She enjoys dentistry for its combination of both art and science in helping people get their dream smiles. Dr. Gandhi initially began practicing dentistry in India before coming to the U.S., where she received her dental degree from the Oklahoma College of Dentistry. To bolster her dental knowledge, she pursues continuing education courses from the Baylor College of Dentistry.
If you have any questions about dental implants, we can be reached at our website or by phone at (972) 532-6506.