Top 10 Benefits of Dental Implants

I treat patients whose lives change dramatically from one day to the next solely because of dental implants.

Not only is there a great aesthetic advantage, but the improvement in your overall psychological and physical health is remarkable.  Here is a list of the top 10 benefits that can come from dental implants that I have personally heard from my patients and that are reported world wide: 

Ability to chew nutritious food and eat anything you like without pain or discomfort. An example of this would be a patient biting into an apple after years of not being able to do so. A wonderful patient of mine, who was also an employee of the company had struggled with failing teeth for years. She informed me about her avoidance of eating out with friends because she felt obliged to order soft foods to not show the discomfort she would display if she were to have ordered something harder like steak and vegetables. Over time, we were able to give her the gift of implants again and she was able to enjoy things that many of us may take for granted: like biting into an apple. 

Improving overall health because you are able to eat more solid and nutritious foods (fruits and vegetables). This same patient, and many other patients were able to eat foods like carrots, apples and meat for the first time in years. Expanding the variety in your diet once again is vital to improving the amount and quality of nutrients consumed.

Improvement of psychological health and well-being. In a world where we should be using our smile to change the world, we need to be mindful of how losing our smile can change us. I’m acutely aware of this every day when I go to work and meet patients with failing or missing teeth. Their confidence is deflated, and they cover their mouth when they smile. It is such a shame. However, once solutions are enacted to reverse these problems I literally see my patients change before my eyes. I've seen spouses cry when seeing their significant other with implants for the first time as they have not seem them smile in years! The radical improvement of confidence and increase in self esteem go hand in hand when receiving dental implants.

Instead of covering your mouth while laughing and smiling, you are eager to show off your new smile. This ties back into the psychological benefits we just discussed.

Dental Implants are more cost effective in the long run. It may seem that in the moment you are saving a lot more money on dentures and bridges, however you only have to change crowns about every 15 years and the dental implant itself could even last a lifetime.

You don’t have to have dentures or bridges fixed every five years anymore. Because of the constant deterioration of your bone and muscle loss that dentures and fixed bridges may cause, your bridges and dentures must be fixed to adjust to the form of your jaw. With dental implants this is not necessary because it STOPS this deterioration of bone and muscle loss leading to the next benefit.

Eliminating further bone loss and the “sinking in” of the jaw and stopping muscle atrophy of the mouth. This elimination is so detrimental as to why dental implants are the most superior missing or failing tooth replacement. Eliminating further bone and loss and muscle loss, literally stops the aging process from continuing and can even make you look ten years younger! Going from a sunken in jaw, to a jaw that is filled thick with healthy bone and muscle contributes to a far more youthful experience as demonstrated in the picture below. 

Not having to remove your temporary teeth every night. This is a given! Implants are permanent solutions that have a 99% success rate over a span of 10 years!

You are suddenly able to talk naturally, without concerns of “lisp like” sound or clicking of dentures. Many patients report a lack of confidence in their speaking abilities because of their dentures or missing teeth. Even when a dentures fits beautifully, it can still be daunting to learn how to speak again with a new structure in your mouth. Your body has adapted to the prior form of your jaw, so getting used to dentures can be a learning curve. Dentures cause your mouth to produce an extra amount of saliva and the excess saliva and the difficulty to control it causes lisps, gargling sounds, and whistling noises. Even when denture adhesive is applied correctly, they can slip causing quite an annoying clicking noise.

Reducing the risk of bad breath associated with dentures. If not brushed thoroughly twice a day, a film of lingering food can develop on the dentures causing the development of plaque and bacteria. This plaque buildup and bacteria can cause a very unpleasant smell that can become difficult to remove if not taken care of daily.

These are only eight of the benefits from dental implants that can be truly life changing. This process can transform our smiles which are often our signature, and a genuine smile carries through into the way we carry ourselves and even the spark in our eyes. It is a sign of friendliness, and kindness and is such an important factor in opening up opportunities for greater happiness and fulfillment.

Picture Citations: https://meadows-chiro.com/testimonios/happy-people/

https://implants-teeth-in-5days.com/blog/7-essential-things-you-should-know-about-dentures

https://pittsburghimplantsandperio.com/blog/all-on-four-dental-implants-cost/