After losing a tooth or teeth, toothless spaces, also called toothless gaps or edentulous spaces appear. When these gaps are not rehabilitated or restored in time, undesirable changes may happen in these areas affecting the oral health. Teeth migration, in particular, occurs which can result to the disruption of critical oral processes such as aesthetics, phonation and mastication. Migrated teeth also become prone to cavities and other oral health problems. And worse, the required space necessary for artificial teeth replacement disappears due to teeth migration. As such, more complicated and expensive preliminary operations are needed before the prosthetic restoration can be conducted. So an implant dentist in Toronto usually recommends quick surgical operation to prevent such scenario to happen.
While there are other ways to restore missing tooth or teeth, dental implants are the most common choice among oral patients. The implant is made by surgically inserting one metal device (metal post) or more into the jawbone. Typically, dental implants are made to support prosthetic restoration such as bridges, crowns, and dentures. But they can also serve as an orthodontic anchor to straighten or align teeth. During a surgical procedure, the implant dentist in Toronto will fix the dental implant into the jawbone. The implant then goes through osseointegration, a biologic process where the metal devices such as titanium form a complete bond to bone.
The time necessary for the process to fully heal takes about 3 to 6 months. Once it heals completely, the implant dentist in Toronto will attach an artificial support called abutment to the dental implants to hold the dental prosthesis. Other options for tooth restoration are fixed bridge and removable denture. The dental bridge is a fixed prosthesis that replaces one or more missing teeth. It permanently joins the artificial replacement tooth to adjacent natural teeth or implants. While traditional dental bridges are still used, dental implants tend to replace them or exclusively support them. Another option is removable dentures, a single prosthetic device that replaces several missing teeth. It is being held in place either by suction (when there’s no natural teeth left) or by clasping the remaining teeth.
Whichever dental prosthetic restoration works best for you, the expertise of dentists here at Queens Quay Dental will surely restore that attractive white smile you have been missing for a while.