Cosmetic Dentistry: Tooth-Replacement Options You Can Consider

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Cosmetic Dentistry: Tooth-Replacement Options You Can Consider

3 January 2017
 Categories: Dentist, Blog


Your teeth do not simply function to help you chew and enhance the aesthetics of your face. They are also essential in providing anchorage for each other. Therefore, losing one of your teeth can lead to misalignment of your remaining teeth because your teeth have lost a crucial placeholder. Moreover, the lack of a tooth would also mean that your jawbone is not receiving sufficient stimulation to enable it to retain its bone density as well as its overall form. Therefore, losing multiple teeth could end up causing your face to lose its structure. This is why it would be prudent to look into tooth replacement, whether you are concerned about your overall appearance or not. Below are some of the tooth-replacement options that you can consider.

Dental Implants

One of the more popular options for tooth replacement in cosmetic dentistry is dental implants. An implant consists of a titanium root that is embedded directly into your jawbone. A prosthetic tooth is then attached to the root that is similar in both size and colour to your missing tooth. For a dental implant to to be successfully installed, the patient needs to have an adequate amount of jawbone that is in healthy condition. Moreover, the adjacent teeth as well as the gum should be healthy too. One of the main advantages of dental implants is that they are the most similar looking to your natural teeth, and this ensures they will not be conspicuous.

In addition to this, the implanted root functions to provide your jawbone with the stimulation that it needs to remain healthy. Lastly, dental implants will not interfere with the adjacent teeth, and this ensures your healthy teeth remain uncompromised. It should be noted though that dental implants are one of the most expensive options that you could consider, and this makes implants financially out of reach for some people.

FPDs

FPD stands for fixed partial denture. FPDs are also referred to as a fixed bridge. With this type of tooth replacement, the dentist will use your abutment teeth as anchors for the replacement teeth. These abutment teeth (the teeth on either side of your gap) will be crowned. The crowns then provide support for a pontic, or a false tooth, that will fill the gap.

One of the pros of this type of tooth replacement is that it is economical. Moreover, an FPD can be installed in a short time. It should be noted, though, that the abutment teeth will be damaged, as the dentist will need to grind them down to make space for the dental crowns.

Talk to a cosmetic dentist for more information.