One of the most exciting developments in the world of dentistry of the past three decades, dental implants give your dentist a permanent way to replace missing teeth. At Orpington Dental Care we always recommend that missing teeth should be replaced, and believe that dental implants are often the best way to do this.

How dental implants work

Dental implants replace the root portion of one or more missing teeth. They are placed directly in your jaw bone in a minor surgical procedure, which can be carried out using either local anaesthetic or conscious sedation at our Orpington dental practice.

Once in position, your implants will integrate with your jaw bone, providing a firm base for permanent new teeth – a crown, bridge, or denture, depending on how many teeth we need to replace – to be attached. With prudent aftercare, implants and the teeth affixed to them should last you many years, perhaps even a lifetime.

The advantages of dental implants

Implants come with several advantages over standard tooth replacements. These include:

1 Implants are permanent

In fact, dental implants are the only permanent way to replace your missing teeth. Standard bridges and dentures often need to be adjusted or replaced fairly frequently, making implants more cost-effective over time.

2 Preventing bone loss

Bone resorbtion is a common side-effect of tooth loss. It happens because the bone shrinks when the tooth roots are missing. Because implants are bionic tooth roots that support bone growth, they stop this from happening. As well as preserving your bone and stopping your teeth becoming loose, this also helps to avoid premature sagging of the facial skin.

3 Eat, smile, and speak with confidence

New teeth attached to dental implants won’t become loose and uncomfortable. They will both look and act like nature teeth, so you can eat whatever you choose, speak, smile, and laugh without fear of your teeth falling out.