Your Guide to Dental Implants for Seniors

According to the CDC, nearly 1 in 5 adults age 65 or older has lost all of their teeth. And whether you have lost one, two, or all of your teeth, chances are that it has significantly affected your quality of life. Missing just one tooth can make it hard to chew your food. Missing multiple teeth can affect your speech, your smile, and more. But with the advent of dental implants for seniors, you can restore your smile for good.

What exactly are dental implants?

The Food and Drug Administration defines dental implants as medical devices surgically implanted into the jaw to restore a person’s ability to chew or their appearance. These devices can also provide the necessary support for crowns, bridges, or fixed dentures. But dental implants for seniors are more than simply solutions for cosmetic concerns. Dental implants are an approach to restorative dentistry that looks, feels, and functions most like your natural teeth.

And when it comes to seniors in particular, it is critical to replace missing teeth. If your teeth fall out, your jawbone naturally starts to shrink over time. This is also called bone resorption and is the cause of that sunken look you sometimes notice in the faces of those with missing teeth. For this reason, we recommend that our patients come to see us to discuss implants and to see if implants could be the best option for them.

5 Benefits of Dental Implants for Seniors

As you can see, we can’t stress enough how important it is to replace missing teeth. And your dentist near The Villages is an excellent partner to help you restore function and confidence to your smile. Check out this list of benefits you can anticipate once your dental implants are in place.

1. Prevention of Bone Loss

One of the biggest ways that dental implants can help your oral health is by preventing subsequent bone loss. When you lose teeth, the jawbone that supports them is no longer stimulated. As such, it starts to deteriorate, which can result in changes to your facial muscle tone and appearance. Tooth implants fully integrate with the jawbone (a process called osseointegration), providing the necessary stimulation to protect your muscles and facial structure.

2. Improved Ability To Speak and Eat

If you are missing teeth, regardless of where they are or how many, you have probably noticed that eating has become more challenging and it is harder to enunciate certain words. You may even find yourself making a whistling sound when you speak due to those missing teeth. Worse yet, you might spit when you talk. But you can avoid all of these uncomfortable and embarrassing situations. As we said earlier, dental implants look, feel, and function like natural teeth. This means you’ll be able to talk without having to worry that your friends and family members can’t understand you, not to mention enjoy your favorite foods again.

3. Durability and Longevity

Once your dental implants heal, they should last a lifetime, provided you practice proper oral hygiene at home. And you’ll be glad to know that dental implants have a 90 to 95% success rate, which means the chances are pretty low that you’ll have to replace your titanium implants later in life. So this means that as long as you are brushing, flossing, and rinsing properly each day and visit the dentist every six months for professional cleanings, you’re in a good place for long-term success.

4. Better Comfort Than Other Tooth-Replacement Options

It’s natural to wonder how dental implants compare to other replacement options. Specifically, many patients ask us about dental bridges vs. implants. The truth is that both can address the same challenges with missing teeth. One advantage to dental bridges is that many patients feel they are a more cost-effective option. And that can be true for some patients, as dental implants are the most expensive tooth-replacement option.

However, remember that bridges place more significant strain on the two anchor teeth. Further, bridges only last five to 15 years, which means you might need to replace it multiple times during your lifetime. In contrast, your dental implant post will last a lifetime, so their up-front cost can actually save you later.

5. Improved Quality of Life

When we talk to our patients that have had successful dental implant surgery, they all tell us how happy they are to have regained their quality of life. Despite the expense and longer process (the entire implant process typically takes five to eight months), they are thrilled with their results. One of the biggest things that patients celebrate is their improved smile, not to mention the avoidance of embarrassing situations related to denture slippage or their missing teeth to begin with.

Laurel Manor Dental is your partner for dental implants for seniors.

If you have one or more missing teeth, we encourage you to consider dental implants so that you can experience an improved quality of life. In just a short period of time, you’ll see how dental implants make you happier and your mouth healthier. Are you ready to make a change? Contact Laurel Manor Dental today and request an appointment. We can’t wait to help you smile again.