Unless you are one of the few lucky people in the world with perfect teeth, you may be considering dental implants due to a lost tooth. But before you make your decision, you need to way the pros and cons of a dental implant.
Pros:
- Dental implants look and function like natural teeth.
- Implants can help prevent bone loss in your jaw.
- Speech and self-confidence are improved when compared to bridges or dentures. This is something to consider if you work with the public or have to speak a lot.
- You get your smile back! This can be a major decision factor for some individuals!
- Dental implants do not rely on adjacent teeth to be anchored to like a bridge. If you damage any of the adjacent teeth in a bridge, you will need to have those teeth fixed, before you can continue to use your bridge.
- Easier to clean between your teeth (compared to a bridge).
Cons:
- This procedure takes time as they are not a quick fix. Waiting for the implant to fuse the bone can take up to six months and things like smoking and diabetes can affect the amount of healing time.
- While dental implants are considered safe, it is a surgery and there are risks involved.
- Often they are an out-of-pocket expense as insurance doesn’t typically cover the implant. Additional dental work may be needed if the jawbone is weak or there are sinus cavity issues.
While there are risks involved and it is a costly procedure, there are some aspects of permanent dental implants that you just cannot find in other tooth replacement options. Never having to worry about your implant falling out, any potential discomfort or fit issues (like you may have in other options), are just a few of the reasons why a patient often chooses a dental implant over a bridge or even partial dentures.
