Dental Implants Offer These Anti-Aging Benefits

Dental implants are a permanent alternative to dentures or bridges for replacing missing teeth. Beyond the benefit of filling a gap in your smile, dental implants have many advantages over other tooth replacement options. In fact, implants can actually make you look (and feel) younger.

How Dental Implants Can Make You Look Younger

In addition to filling a visual space left by a lost tooth with a natural-looking replacement, implants restore and preserve bone tissue and facial structure. The result is avoiding outcomes that could have an aging effect on your appearance.

Realistically Fill Gaps

A healthy-looking smile without missing teeth adds to a youthful appearance. Gaps left by missing teeth are unsightly and can make you look older. Dental implants are an effective and comfortable way to anchor natural-looking crowns, filling in gaps in your smile. We will match the color of the crown to your existing teeth, so your implant will blend in seamlessly.

Prevent Tooth Loss

Getting a dental implant can actually reduce your chances of losing additional teeth. When a tooth is lost, not only is the visible portion of the tooth missing but the root is gone as well. This can leave a hole, or socket, where the root of the tooth sat within the jawbone.

If the socket is not filled, the surrounding teeth can collapse towards the gap. They might become misaligned, which could lead to a crooked appearance. Eventually, they may become loose and be lost as well. Dental implants fill the socket left by a lost tooth. This keeps the neighboring teeth strong and straight.

Prevent Sunken Cheeks

Sunken cheeks can make you appear much older. Missing teeth can create a sunken look on their own. Unfortunately, the effects don’t end there. As you lose more teeth, it will increase the appearance of sunken cheeks.

In addition, the strength and structure of the jaw are maintained by frequent use, such as chewing. When teeth are missing, those sections of the jaw are not used in the same way. Bone loss can result from this lack of use, as well as from decay caused by bacteria in an exposed socket. The result can be facial collapse and a gaunt appearance that makes you look much older.

Restore Worn Down Teeth

Wear and tear is a fact of life, and your teeth are no exception. Decades of use can make teeth appear worn and make you look older. Cracked, damaged, or worn teeth can also be an invitation for bacteria and tooth decay. When less invasive treatments are not the best choice, a dental implant can be a good option to replace injured or worn teeth.

Improve Comfort and Confidence

The support of an implant is drilled directly into the jaw. The result is a tooth replacement that is designed to fuse with your bone and become a permanent part of your facial structure. After your implant is complete, you might not even notice you have it.

Unlike dentures and bridges, implants are not removable. As a result, they will not shift or become loose, and they do not require sticky adhesive to hold them in place. Feeling like you have your natural teeth can mean comfort and confidence, which will make you look and feel better all around.

Other Implant Benefits Compared to Other Tooth Restoration

Dental implants become a part of the natural structure of your mouth. They feel and act like your natural teeth. You care for them in the same way. In addition, implants are far more durable than dentures and bridges. With good oral hygiene habits, your implants will last a lifetime. Dentures and bridges will have to be replaced every so often.

Even if you need a full set of dentures, there are implant options that might be available to you, including All-on-4® implants. Schedule a free consultation with Tompkins Dental to see if you are an implant candidate and avoid the aging effects of missing teeth.