Dental implants – money well spent

Spending a few thousand dollars on a second-hand car sounds like a bargain. Spending that on refurbishing your house sounds reasonable. How about spending it on dental implants? Lots of people who have experienced tooth loss don’t see why they should spend that amount on dental implants in Melbourne when dentures or bridges come in much cheaper. It’s true in the short-term, but over the years it is quite a different story, as any implant dentist will attest.

At High Dental Implants Melbourne we’ve seen the difference dental implants can make and we know why they are the gold standard of tooth replacement, so let us explain.

Getting to the root of the matter

Dentures replace missing crowns but not missing tooth roots. Your tooth roots allow vibrations from the clashing together of your teeth to pass down into your jawbone. These vibrations tell your jawbone to stay strong and healthy. Missing roots mean your jawbone soon starts to deteriorate, losing as much as 25% of its density within the first year after tooth loss. As the jawbone dissolves, the gums recede and dentures have less and less support, as they rely on suction to the gums to stay put. Every few years, you’ll need to fork out on getting your dentures relined or remade altogether. Not to mention that neighbouring teeth can begin to shift as the jawbone disappears.

If you’ve only lost one or 2 teeth, you may opt for bridges. They will stay firmly in place as they are attached to the neighbouring teeth. But these perfectly healthy teeth have to be ground down to act as buttress supports. And again, the issue of missing tooth roots is not resolved, so the jawbone still deteriorates.

Built to last

Dental implants in Melbourne act as artificial tooth roots, sitting in the jawbone and encouraging the growth of new bone around them. This ensures a stable foundation for the attachment of replacement crowns on top. What’s more, the implants can last a lifetime if you keep up with a good oral hygiene routine and regular dental check-ups. So yes, dental implants in Melbourne are expensive in the short-term but they are an investment that pays off over the years.