Dental Implants: Can They Restore Your Chewing Ability?

Dentist Blog

If you lost a few back teeth in the past, you might experience a number of problems over time, including the inability to chew food. Chewing allows your teeth to break down food. If you don't have enough teeth in the back of your mouth, you can't break down food properly. You can replace your back teeth with dental implants. Learn how the inability to chew food affects you and how dental implants can make it better below.

How Can Losing Your Back Teeth Hurt You?

Your back teeth, or molars, are critical to your overall dental health. Your back teeth stabilize the bones in your upper and lower jaws. Your molars also break down food into small particles or pieces. If you lose your molars to age, disease, or trauma, you lose the ability to chew food effectively.

Your teeth must make contact in order to cut, chew, and break down food properly. If you have empty spaces in the back of your mouth, the rest of your teeth can't make the contact they need to break down food thoroughly. You may end up swallowing large chunks of food rather than tiny particles.

If you struggle to chew food during every meal, ask a dentist about dental implants.

How Can Dental Implants Help You Chew Food?

Dental implants are small metal posts dentists use to replace teeth roots. The implants can fit deep inside the jaw bone or sit close to the surface of the jaw bone. Dental implants can do everything natural teeth can, including chew and break down food.

A dentist will complete an assessment of your mouth before they schedule you for dental implant surgery. The assessment allows a dentist to determine the amount of bone loss in your jaws. The bone tissue in your jaw bone can degrade without teeth to stimulate them during the day. If the tissue in your jaw bone is too thin or degraded, a dentist will need to rebuild it with bone grafts. The grafts can come from donors or from your own body.

If your jaw bone doesn't require bone treatment, a dentist will prepare your empty tooth sockets for your implants. A provider will use a tiny scalpel or laser to create a thin cut into your gums. A dentist will then insert the posts of your implants inside the empty sockets. A dentist may close up the openings with sutures or another method.

After your implants heal, a provider will cover the tops of your implants with artificial tooth caps. The caps will allow you to chew food and eat properly again.

If you need to replace your back teeth soon, contact a dentist for information on dental implants today.

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11 July 2022

Getting Your Toddler to the Dentist Once and For All

Toddlers should see a dentist for the first time by the age of twelve months or by the time their first tooth comes in. But if you are a parent with toddlers anything like mine, the prospect of going to the dentist (let alone anywhere!) can be pretty intimidating. My kids were a handful growing up. They had tantrums any time we would have to sit in a waiting room, and they refused to get in the dentist's chair during their first few visits. So, I had to employ a professional to help me make the transition to finally getting them in that dental chair without all the screaming and crying. I know I'm not the only parent in this situation, so I decided to share the information I've learned with others who can use a little help. You can find all my advice right here on these pages!