Whether you decide to undergo a procedure for dental implants in Richmond, or indeed anywhere else in the country you’ll need to have sufficient jaw bone mass in order to give the dental implants the best chance of success. The problem is however that for those who wear dentures or have experienced tooth loss for any length of time, good bone mass and density isn’t always a given. Let’s explain.
When a tooth is missing the bone tissue that once surrounded the tooth root is no longer stimulated. As a result it starts to waste away. It occurs pretty quickly to start with and then slows down over a period of time, but nevertheless, it doesn’t stop. Eventually if left it will start to undermine adjacent healthy teeth and before you know it, you have more missing teeth. Unfortunately dentures can’t halt this process either and because they’re placed directly onto the jawbone, bone wastage (otherwise known as bone resorption) is often exacerbated. The one process that can halt bone resorption is to fit a dental implant. So why is this?
Firstly whether you undergo a dental implant in Richmond or anywhere else in the country it will be made from titanium. This is a material that bone simply loves. So much so in fact that when an implant is placed into the jaw, the surrounding bone tissue will start to merge and fuse with it to create one super-strong platform. This is a process known as osseointegration. So rather than speeding up bone loss, an implant not only halts the process but also naturally encourages new bone growth.
So, we’ve established that bone loss can be halted once and for all by the introduction of dental implants, but we also know that implant success relies heavily on them being placed in sufficient and healthy bone. Therefore it’s a bit of a ‘catch 22′ situation.
In order to get round this an implant dentist can perform bone augmentation surgery. This is where bone taken from another source (usually a bone bank) is grafted onto the weakened area. Over time (somewhere between 2-4 months) the newly grafted bone is allowed to merge with the old to form one complete healthy bone mass. Finally a dental implant can be placed.
In essence bone augmentation may lengthen the whole implant procedure but it allows many people both young and old the chance to experience the most natural looking form of tooth replacement that modern dentistry allows.
If you want to find out more about bone augmentation or dental implants then contact Sheen Dental, or visit our website at www.sheendental.co.uk We’ve been placing dental implants in Richmond at our clinic for many years and as a result have also performed countless bone augmentation procedures.