When most people think about dental implants, they think of the aesthetic reasons to get them. After all, having missing teeth can make many people feel uncomfortable and embarrassed about the appearance of their teeth and smile. However, aesthetics are not the only reason that a person can or should get dental implants. Get to know some of the ways that dental implants could potentially help you and your health so that you can make the right decision for you. Then, you can schedule your dentist appointment as soon as possible if dental implants are the right choice for you.

Dental Implants Protect The Bones In Your Mouth

First and foremost, having missing teeth is not just an issue of appearance. The bones in your mouth into which your teeth are attached by the root, can suffer damage when there are teeth missing.

Deossification is the technical term for what occurs to the bones in your mouth when there are missing teeth. This is the loss of mineral content and therefore structural integrity of the bones.

Dental Implants Keep Your Other Teeth Healthy And In Place

Bone loss in your mouth bones as well as unnatural gaps in your teeth that occur when you are missing teeth can actually negatively affect your remaining healthy teeth. The loss of structural integrity in your bones will not just be limited to the area where there is no longer a tooth. It can and will extend to the rest of the bone.

When this happens, it can cause the roots of your teeth to become exposed and unstable and can result in further tooth loss. The damage to the bone as well as the space that is left by the missing tooth can also cause your remaining healthy teeth to shift and become crooked and in strange positions that are problematic for appearances and mastication (chewing).

Dental Implants Could Eventually Treat Chronic Health Conditions

Current research in dental implants and chronic disease management has lead researchers to consider the possibility of using the dental implant as a medium to release the medication into the bloodstream. For example, insulin could be loaded into the dental implant when it is surgically implanted and the medication would be released into the blood bone marrow of the bone in the mouth. The dental implant would be semi-implanted rather than permanently fixed so that your dentist could reload the medication periodically using only local anesthesia. This could provide innumerable health benefits as well as dental ones.

With these current and potential future benefits of dental implants in mind, you can better understand how these dental orthotics could help you. If you are ready, contact your dentist and schedule an appointment as soon as possible. To learn more, contact a dentist like Dr. Steven Hogg D.D.S.