Modern dentistry is all about hanging on to your natural teeth as long as possible. At Broadway Dental Clinic, we will always do everything we can to help you keep your own teeth. Things are so different in dentistry now. Unlike the time of our grandparents when people would choose to have all their teeth removed and have a set of dentures instead. Dentures meant not having to fork out for expensive and painful dental treatment. In fact, having your teeth removed and getting dentures was seen as a sign of adulthood and extraction and dentures were given to people for their 21st birthdays.
It seems utterly bizarre in these times, especially when lost teeth can be replaced by dental implants in Loughton. These mini-miracles of dental engineering give you back the full function of your teeth in a way that bridges and dentures cannot. This is because they replace the root of the tooth as well as the crown.
What’s involved?
In Loughton, dental implants require a minor oral surgical procedure that can easily be carried out under local anaesthetic. During the procedure, your Broadway Dental Clinic surgeon drills a new socket into your jawbone. This sounds far more painful than it actually is, as there are far fewer nerve endings in the jawbone than in your teeth. However, if you are anxious about undergoing surgery, we can give you either oral or intravenous sedation to help you relax.
Once the implant is in place, you normally have to wait a few weeks for it to mesh with your jawbone and become stable enough to withstand the multi-directional forces of chewing. Once it’s meshed though, a dental implant can cope with forces of up to 97kg or 200lbs.
You do not have to have one implant for every lost tooth. One implant can support up to 3 teeth, rather like a bridge. Or you can have a full set of teeth on each jaw held in place with between 4 and 6 implants.
If you would like to find out more about dental implants in Loughton, why not give our clinic a ring and book a consultation?