Dental implants are one of the most effective ways to restore missing teeth. The most apparent advantage of dental implants is that they restore your smile’s health and appearance by replacing lost teeth. However, dental implants also provide another advantage: preventing malocclusion, the misalignment of the smile.
Malocclusion negatively impacts the beauty of the smile, increases the likelihood of developing tooth decay, and can cause discomfort in chewing. By halting the development of occlusal issues, dental implants restore the health of the smile in more ways than just replacing teeth.
How Missing Teeth Cause Misalignment
When a tooth is lost, there is an empty space in the jaw bone where the tooth’s root once was. In order to close this opening, the bone pulls surrounding material into the empty socket and shrinks as a result. This process, called resorption, affects the alignment of the smile by warping the shape of the jaw. As the bone shrinks, the remaining teeth shift out of proper alignment, causing further health issues.
While resorption is the primary cause of developing malocclusion when teeth are lost, the extra pressure your teeth experience after tooth loss intensifies that misalignment. Without a full smile to share in the effort of chewing, the remaining teeth are put under additional stress every time you eat. This force increases the distance the teeth shift during the resorption process, in addition to making them more likely to be damaged or lost.
How Dental Implants Help
Malocclusion from tooth loss starts to develop when the jaw bone shrinks, but dental implants prevent that resorption.
Implant posts are titanium rods that are surgically placed into the jaw. They not only serve as artificial roots that reinforce your new teeth but stimulate the jaw’s structure. As a result, the jaw does not continue to experience resorption and, the remaining teeth do not shift out of place.
Additionally, the implant-supported restorations balance the pressure of the bite, eliminating the secondary reason for dental shift.
Contact Us for Dental Implants
Dental implants are not always a viable option for restoring lost teeth, but the benefits they provide when applicable make them an excellent choice to drastically improve a patient’s oral health. Eastvale Dental and Orthodontics provides dental implants in Corona, helping patients from all surrounding areas rebuild their smile. For more information, call us today and schedule your next dental visit.