Losing one of your teeth can be quite upsetting. While the effect on the look of your smile is obvious, you quickly learn that you must adjust many behaviors when living with a missing tooth. Speaking can become more difficult as your words sound different articulating around the gap in your smile. You can find yourself avoiding former favorite foods that now harm your socket. This can affect your total nutritional intake as you schedule your diet around a limited amount of items instead of what is best for your overall health. You can also take on a rapidly aging appearance as you lose the support of teeth that hold up your facial muscles and lips. This is why replacing your missing tooth offers vital benefits to restoring your quality of life as well as your smile!
At your Cerritos, CA dental practice, we can help you replace your missing tooth with an appropriate prosthetic. We can examine your jaw to determine if it is healthy enough for dental implants or provide alternative treatment in the form of a dental bridge. By learning about the benefits of these solutions, you can return your smile in short order!
Tooth Loss Harms The Integrity Of Your Jaw
When your teeth are healthy, they transfer the force of your bite through their roots into your jawbone. This stimulating signal tells the body to direct nutrients and minerals to your jaw for continuing health. Unfortunately, when you lose your tooth, you lose this signal. Your body no longer knows that the bone is in use and begins a process of diverting nutrients elsewhere to serve the rest of your skeletal system. As your jaw diminishes, it can reduce the stability of remaining neighboring teeth and cause you to experience more losses.
Restoring Your Bite With An Implant
To return the stimulation of your bite to your jawbone, we could create a dental implant. Made from biocompatible titanium, we insert the post directly into the bone where your oral tissues fuse to hold it permanently. After healing from placement, we can replace an individual tooth with a dental crown to complete your prosthetic above your gum line. When you bite, the post mimics your tooth’s root by transferring your bite’s force into the bone. While other replacement options can fill the gap in your smile, only a dental implant can provide this vital support for your jaw health.
Talk To Your Cerritos, CA, Dentist About Restoring Your Missing Tooth!
Losing a tooth does not have to leave a permanent gap in your smile. Treatments such as dental implants can restore your smile and support your oral health. To learn more about this service, contact your Cerritos, CA, dentist at 562-584-4082. We serve patients from all surrounding communities, such as Lakewood, Long Beach, and Buena Park.