Prosthodontics
Prosthodontics
With the help of prosthetics, prosthodontic procedures restore the function and aesthetic of your teeth and jaw. Procedures under the umbrella of prosthodontics include veneers, bridges, crowns, implants, dentures, and more. To learn more about our all-porcelain bridges and all-porcelain crowns, please explore our Cosmetic Dentistry Services, or ask your dentist at your next appointment!
Dental Implants
At 7Dental we use dental implants, a surgical component that is placed in the bone of the jaw, to support dental prostheses such as crowns, bridges, and dentures, or even to act as a temporary component to speed up orthodontic treatment.
Upper and Lower Teeth Implants
Dental implants are a wonderful alternative to the discomfort many people experience with upper dentures. Dental implants are small titanium cylinders that are surgically inserted into the bone of the jaw to replace the roots of missing teeth. Implants help to stabilize the bone, and prevent bone less if your permanent teeth have fallen out. Securing your teeth with dental implants can make a world of difference. You can eat, talk, laugh, and smile with confidence.
If you have a lower denture, you probably know how hard it can be to eat comfortably. When lower teeth are lost, the bone in the jaw continually recedes. Over time, this causes a lower denture to become loose and floppy. Even worse, there are nerves passing through a canal in the jaw that can end up on the surface of the bone. When you bite down, it hurts!
One way to use implants on the lower jaw is to connect the implants with a bar, and then put clips into a new lower denture. These clips snap onto the bar and keep the denture from rocking and shifting. Such a denture can still be removed for easy access and cleaning of the implants at home. Another option is a lower bridge, which may be cemented in or held in place by screws. Using dental implants to support either a lower denture or bridge will keep the pressure off bone and the nerves. The implants also help stop the bone loss in the jaw that continues once teeth have been removed.
Single Tooth Implant
Adding a dental implant after a tooth’s been lost can prevent a chain reaction of problems that would affect your entire mouth. Teeth need each other for support. When a tooth is lost, the biting forces change on the teeth next to the space and they begin to shift. When the opposing tooth no longer has anything to chew against, it begins to extrude out of the socket.
When your bite is slightly misaligned, it causes undue stress on the surrounding teeth, and they begin to flex. It is this continual flexing and stress over time that causes the outer tooth enamel layer to separate from the inner dentin layer, forming a notch at the gum line that we call abfraction.
As your bite changes, it gets harder and harder to chew your food, and you may get damage to your jaw joint, which can lead to TMJ.
It’s much harder to clean teeth that have shifted. Harmful plaque and tartar collect in these new hard-to-reach places, causing cavities and the permanent bone loss that comes with gum disease.
A bridge is another way to solve the problem of a missing tooth. But two advantages of an implant over a bridge are that the teeth next to the space aren’t affected, as they are when they are prepped for a bridge. The implant helps stop the ongoing bone-loss that occurs once a tooth is lost. A missing tooth really changes a person’s smile, but a dental implant can replace the missing tooth and improve your smile.
Multiple-Implant Bridge
Using implants to support a bridge is an excellent way to replace missing teeth. Like any other bridge, a dental bridge uses abutments for support, and to hold it in place. Artificial teeth are attached to the implants, and can be used as part of a bridge.
A partial denture is another way to solve the problem of missing teeth, but there are several advantages to an implant-supported bridge. You get to avoid the clasps and metal work that comes with a partial denture, and an implant can help stop the bone loss that begins when teeth are removed. Using dental implants to support a bridge is an excellent way to replace missing teeth.
