Dental Implants in Edmonton
Dental implants are made from titanium rod which serve to replace the root systems of a natural tooth. Why titanium? Because titanium’s unique properties allow it to actually fuse with the bone tissue around it to make it stable and durable. Once titanium roots are placed, they are completed by placing a false tooth above the gum line and attaching it to the root using a connector called an abutment.
What Do Dental Implants Cost?
The cost of dental implants varies by the required configuration, since this impacts the cost of materials. Single implants cost starts at approximately $3000 in Alberta, that ranges up for multiple implants to full sets of implants. Patients who are missing all of their teeth along the dental arches do not necessarily require as many implants as natural teeth. In fact, all-on-four implants are commonly used to anchor false teeth while delivering bite force into the jaw. This involves four implants on top and four more on the bottom – one in each quadrant of the dental arch.
While dentures do represent a financial cost, they are a significant investment in your overall health. Comfortable eating, strong bones and no fussing with ‘fit’ of false teeth are only some of the great benefits of this important new service. To find out if dental implants are for you, talk to your dentist. In the meantime, here is some important information about dental implants to help you begin to understand why they are such an important service.
Understanding Dental Implants
If you follow a workout routine, and even if you don’t, you likely understand the many reasons that health professionals the world over advocate strongly for it. In fact, exercise is so important for your health that even astronauts aboard the space station follow a regimen of exercise every day! What does this have to do with dentistry? It turns out, a lot!
When astronauts take off on their journey toward the space station, they are saying goodbye to many things for the duration of their time aboard the craft. Family and friends wave goodbye as the team of astronauts journey outside of the earth’s atmosphere, held firmly on the ground with gravity. Aboard the craft, the space men and women enjoy a gravity-free environment where they are free to float all day long, using very little force to get around. Sounds like a lot of fun – but what’s the catch?
The catch comes as astronauts prepare to re-enter the earth’s atmosphere and the pull of gravity. While we may not feel it much here, we are constantly under pressure from the pull of gravity. When we leave the forces of gravity behind, our bones are no longer bearing a load. Over time, our bones can begin to deteriorate in the absence of calls for reinforcement. Our bodies are so intelligent – they interact with the environment around us to determine what we need. When we aren’t testing our bone strength every day by bearing a load, our bodies interpret this as a sign that the minerals that are being sent to the bones would be better utilized elsewhere, and they are sent to other places in the body. Requiring the body to bear a load every day is how astronauts ensure that their bones remain healthy enough to support their reintegration into gravity.
Dentures and Your Bones
Did you know that your jawbone responds the same way as the rest of the bones in your body in the absence of pressure as the astronauts do? The bones that support your teeth rely on the pressure that they get from chewing your food to keep them strong and healthy. Each time you chew, the pressure of your tooth roots against the bone socket sends a message to your body that reinforcements are required in the form of vitamins and minerals that maintain the structure of the bone itself.
So, what happens when a tooth is removed? When teeth are lost or removed from the jawbone, the body begins to notice a shift in the strength demands in that area of the bone. Denture patients who have had their teeth removed can begin to witness the effects of bone resorption (degradation) in as little as 6 months. Although dentures may sound like the perfect solution, the truth is that dentures do improve appearance and ability to eat but, in the absence of root systems to sustain bone mineralization, they do not prevent bone resorption. Changes to the structure of the lower face are common in denture wearers, and a constantly changing jaw means that dentures will often struggle to fit comfortably.
Advancements in the science of dentistry has a solution to this problem at long last! Dental implants now offer dental patients the ability to retain the strength and structure of the jaw after the loss of teeth. These implants transfer over 80% of the pressure of bite forces into the jaw as natural teeth, and they are very durable.
