If you want to feel confident and happy with your appearance, a beaming smile is the best place to start. When you are content with your teeth, you carry yourself with a certain assuredness that is apparent to those around you. This is a problem facing many of those who may have a missing tooth or two. Not only can the gaps in your grin cause you stress and insecurity, they can also be causing a number of avoidable dental issues.
Problems that arise from missing teeth
A solitary gap in your teeth may sound inconsequential, but in reality, even one missing tooth can have an impact on how the rest of your teeth bite down and work together.
You might find that you suffer from ‘drifting’, where the neighbouring teeth lean or tilt over into the missing space. Our teeth tend to naturally move toward the front of our mouths without the presence of surrounding teeth to keep them in place. Drifting increases the likelihood of food getting trapped in the spaces leading to gum disease. It can also affect your bite, allowing your opposing teeth to move causing them to hit in areas they didn't used. This can cause cracks to appear or you to experience headaches.
In addition to this, once teeth are removed from your jaw, the supporting bone has the tendency to shrink. This occurs due to a loss of stimulation to the bone, typically caused by biting down on food. This process begins as soon as the tooth is lost and progresses over time, meaning that both the height and width of your bone will be compromised. In time, this bone loss becomes visually apparent and has a dramatic impact on your appearance.
What you can do about your missing teeth
There are a number of ways to replace missing teeth, but over the years dental implants in London have won out as modern dentistry’s best overall option. They continue to be in very high demand for a variety of reasons. Implants are very strong, stable and long-lived, as long as you take good care of them.
On top of this, they are the most natural-looking alternative. Highly skilled dentists can perfectly match the colour of the crowns on the implants to your remaining teeth. All this is possible because the titanium implants have the remarkable ability to fuse to living bone.
Dental implants also have the highest success rate of any tooth-replacement option. At Bow Lane, we use the most up to date systems and techniques to achieve a 98% success rate. Even in areas of low bone density.
Bow Lane also is one of the few practices to have a dental laboratory on site. These teeth are custom-made by our on-site lab technicians.
The process of obtaining dental implants
We are now able to replace your broken, missing or decayed teeth with titanium dental implants and porcelain teeth in one day. This process is also known as the “Same Day Smile” or “Teeth in a Day”. Not only can a single tooth be replaced with implants on the same day, but we can even replace an entire jaw with novel techniques such as All-on-4™, where we place four specially configured and angled implants that support up to 12 teeth per jaw.
Common worries regarding implants
Dental implants are a surgical procedure, and as such, there are a lot of concerns and questions that patients like to have resolved before pressing forward. One of the biggest worries is that of bone deficiency. Many customers don’t know whether they have enough bone to support implants. Depending on the dentist and the standard of their equipment, you may receive varying opinions on whether or not you are a suitable candidate.
At Bow Lane, we have several techniques to resolve these concerns. These techniques involve using real or even synthetic bone, as well as soft tissues and gum to enable implant placement. There are many other ways to correct bone deficiency; a discussion with your dentist will reveal a number of options.
Another pressing concern that patients have is the issue of pain. The entire procedure is conducted under anaesthesia, meaning that you will be numb throughout. You might feel a vibrating sensation while the work is being done, and though this might feel slightly odd, it won’t be painful or uncomfortable in the slightest.
Dental implants could do wonders for your look and your general health. Don’t be tempted to put off your problems; the longer you leave your missing teeth, the bigger and more problematic your dental issues will be down the road. Our implant surgeon, Dr Zaki Kanaan, is highly experienced in the field of dental implants, having achieved a Master of Science Degree in Implant Dentistry from the world renowned Guy’s Hospital.
Rest assured, at Bow Lane, you are in safe hands. Call to close those gaps and enjoy a brighter smile.
