“Getting old isn’t for sissies.” So said, the witty and wonderful movie star of the mid-20^th century, Bette Davis, who lived until she was 81. As we age, we become creakier and slower and bits of us stopping working. Modern research is finding ways to make getting older easier, and one of the best that has come along is dental implants. In Orpington, we offer these teeth restorations and patients are increasingly choosing them before other options.

The perks

Having dental implants in Orpington makes ageing easier to combat because they allow you to keep on eating the healthy, nutritious foods that tend to end up on the ‘no can do’ list when you replace your teeth with dentures and bridges. These traditional teeth restorations only provide about a quarter of the chewing power that natural teeth have. That makes it hard to eat crunchy foods such as raw fruit and vegetables. Or chewy foods such as lean meats, or bitty foods such as nuts. We need to be able to keep on eating these foods if we are to give our bodies the nutrition they require to prevent other parts failing.

The process

In Orpington, dental implants give you back your full chewing power because they replace the root of the tooth as well as the crown. The implant goes into a socket that your dentist creates for you in your jawbone. This is a minor surgical procedure that is carried out under local anaesthetic. If, however, you feel at all anxious about it, we can give you sedation so that you are deeply peaceful throughout the procedure.

The implant is made of titanium because this metal is highly biocompatible. Once in place, it stimulates new bone tissue growth around it and the two mesh together over a number of weeks, until the implant post is held in place as securely as a natural tooth.

After that, we attach your custom-made porcelain crowns, which are made to be indistinguishable from your own teeth. One dental implant can support up to 3 teeth. They can also hold bridges and dentures in place so they don’t wobble around.