When I had a badly decayed tooth extracted, I got a partial denture to fill in the gap. I didn't mind it at first, because I was just so happy to have my painful tooth out of my mouth. Over time, I began to get tired of taking it out at night. I asked my dentist if I was could get a dental implant, and he said that my gum disease did not make me a good candidate, but a fixed bridge may be a good option for me. I went with his suggestion, and I have no regrets. I love feeling like I have a real tooth again that I don't have to remove at night. I created this blog to remind other people with a missing tooth that they have many replacement options, and if one is not for you, then try another that may be right.
Is the tooth or the crown the more important component of a tooth? On the one hand, a crown is the visible part of a tooth and thus as far as aesthetics are concerned, the crown is the most important component. Structurally, a crown is used for chewing and helps prevent surrounding teeth from moving. On the other hand, you might think that all a root does is anchor the crown in place, and thus if you can find another way to anchor your tooth, the root is not necessary. Not so fast.
What Is so Important about a Root?
Besides holding a crown in place, a root is necessary to keep your jawbone healthy. You might think that the density of your bones is constant and unaffected by environmental conditions, but this is far from true. For example, if you run a lot, your leg bones grow more dense to help withstand the pressures of running. Similarly, when you chew, the pressure thus created travels down your crown to the root and then to your jawbone. In response, your jawbone grows more dense to help keep the tooth secure. If you remove the root, the pressures of chewing cannot stimulate the jawbone, and it can actually lose density, which creates a depression in your gums as well as making it more likely for surrounding teeth to shift. Thus, structurally speaking, a root is no less important than the crown.
How Do You Replace Crown and Root?
Options for tooth replacement such as bridges and dentures only replace the crown. A bridge cannot be removed as dentures can, but because it is anchored by wires to surrounding teeth, you need to be careful with what you eat and how much pressure you place on bridges to avoid bending wires. A dental implant on the other hand, begins with the dentist drilling a hole into your jawbone and placing a titanium post in the hole. Once the bone heals around the post, you have an artificial root which will behave like a natural root. All that remains is to cement or screw a crown in place, and you have a replacement tooth that will look and behave like a natural tooth.
The main disadvantage of a dental implant is cost. Because of the need to drill into the bone and to use a titanium post, implants are significantly more expensive than either bridges or dentures. However, both structurally and aesthetically speaking, dental implants are worth the cost.
For more information about dental implants, contact a professional dentist, such as Byron C Scott, DMD - Springhill Dental Health Center.
Share27 July 2017
