Dental Implants: Pros and Cons

| The dental implant is a method to restore teeth that is based on the placement of an attachment (such as a screw) in the maxillary or mandibular bone.

Ways to restore a lost tooth

When a tooth is lost in a mouth, there are two very different ways to restore it:

• Through the removable prosthesis. They are devices that, grasping the remaining teeth through hooks and other prosthetic structures, support the prosthetic teeth. As the name indicates, it is a removable prosthesis.
• By fixed prosthesis. Within this group we would find bridges, which consist of restoring the absent tooth by cementing the prosthetic along with the adjacent pieces. And for a few years now, the ones that offer us a wide range of possibilities to do oral rehabilitation. This new area within dentistry is in constant study and development and there are more and more options that we can offer to our patients.

What advantages do they have

• Its placement does not imply touching the adjacent teeth.
• By placing the implant, we interrupt the bone resorption that begins when we lose a tooth. That is, we stop losing bone because the function of the root is restored.
• It is a permanent and long-lasting solution.
• For people with dentures, the fact of putting an implant can help them to have support from said dentures and provide security and a lot of comfort when it comes to eating.
• Price: it is currently one of the most expensive treatments in dentistry. It is more expensive than the rest of the replacement options for missing teeth.
• Surgery: you have to go through the surgical phase to place the implant. That is, you have to go through surgery if we want this option. It must also be said that most patients, once finished, would repeat if necessary.
• Not everyone is a candidate for wearing them: one must evaluate, among other things, their general condition, and the quantity and quality of the bone. The reason is that if it is a tooth that has been lost for many years, it is likely that there is a very marked bone resorption process and that the placement of an implant is complicated.