If you are about to lose some teeth, or if you have already lost some, you need to start thinking about how you are going to replace them. It’s important not to leave yourself with gaps in your teeth for any length of time, for 2 reasons:

Loss of jawbone

When you lose a tooth the jawbone in the area where it used to be is no longer stimulated by the vibrations that used to come down through the tooth into the root every time it met with the tooth on the opposite jaw. The lack of vibration is interpreted as the bone no longer being in use and the bone cells start to dissolve themselves, making the jawbone smaller and less dense in that area. When you have lost all your teeth, the whole jawbone shrinks away, leaving you looking very pointy-chinned and your face collapsing inwards.

Destabilisation of remaining teeth

When you have a gap in your teeth, the neighbouring teeth are no longer securely held in place and can start to drift around and even topple into the gap.

Dental implants for replacing missing teeth

The most effective way to replace missing teeth is with dental implants. This is because they replace the tooth roots. Having replacement tooth roots means the jaw stays strong and healthy because it is receiving the stimulation it needs to keep renewing itself.

Tooth roots also provide stability when you eat, so replacement roots give you the freedom to eat whatever you like. Dentures only provide about 25% of the chewing power of natural teeth. Fixed bridgework is more stable, but it means sacrificing 2 perfectly healthy teeth, which need to be ground down to act as buttress crowns for the bridge.

Here at David Madruga in Marylebone, we can replace a single tooth, a few teeth or even all your teeth with dental implants. You don’t have to have an implant for every lost tooth. One implant can support up to 3 crowns on a bridge. And we can replace an entire arch on just 4-6 implants.

Why not make an appointment for a consultation to find out how we can help you?