Flower Mound Dentist Shares Five Reasons To Consider Dental Implants
Tuesday, May 19, 2009- FLOWER MOUND, TEXAS – Flower Mound general dentist who performs cosmetic dental procedures Dr. Jonathan Golab is a proponent of dental implants to address a wide variety of dental maladies. Dr. Golab recently created a list of the top five reasons patients should consider dental implants over other alternatives. Do No Harm Philosophy The philosophy of “do no harm” is a mantra in the world of holistic dentistry, Golab said. Today’s forward-thinking dentists focus on being conservative and preserving as much of the natural teeth as possible when performing dental repairs. This is possible with dental implants because unlike other solutions to missing teeth, only the area of the missing tooth is affected by treatment.
The Standard of Care Dental implants have become the “standard of care” when replacing missing teeth, Golab said. Other repairs such as dental bridges require neighboring healthy tooth structure to be grinded down to provide an anchor for the bridge. Bone Preservation Dental implants actually preserve the jaw bone in the area of the missing tooth or teeth. When a tooth is lost or extracted, the bone in that area will begin to slowly wear away over time if left untreated, Golab said. Leave the area untreated for too long and it becomes necessary to perform a bone augmentation procedure prior to placing a dental implant. Bone augmentation requires the use of synthetic bone or healthy bone that has been harvested from another area of the body and grafted to the jaw. “It takes a while for grafted bone to integrate itself into the jaw area,” he said. “That means of restoring the appearance of the teeth will take longer when this is the treatment method.” Preservation of Natural Teeth Dental implants do not harm adjacent natural teeth. The same cannot be said for dental bridges.
When a dental bridge is used to replace a missing tooth, the dentist must prepare the teeth on either side of the missing tooth by grinding them down to allow room for crowns to be placed on them, Golab said. These crowns serve as the anchor for the artificial tooth that will rest where the missing tooth once was. A Lifelong Repair “Dental implants should certainly outlast you, whereas dental bridges will certainly need replacement at some point,” Golab said.
