After losing one or more teeth, patients often realize that dental implants are the best way to fully restore their smiles. However, when you’re faced with the need to extract a tooth, replacing it afterward not be the first thing that comes to mind. While the tooth remains, the best thing for it should be to preserve its healthy, natural structure. When that isn’t possible and the tooth must be extracted, the next best thing is to replace the tooth with a lifelike dental implant restoration.
When extracted teeth need to be replaced
For some patients who need tooth extraction, the reason is because a wisdom tooth has become impacted. Also known as third molars, wisdom teeth become impacted because of a lack of space at the end of the dental ridges. Therefore, they don’t usually need to be replaced. However, when a tooth has to be extracted because its severely damaged or infected, or because a previous restoration has failed, then removing the tooth is only part of the solution. Its loss will still impact your oral health and bite function, and mitigating these effects will require replacing the tooth with a custom-designed, highly lifelike replacement.
What extracting a tooth can mean long-term
The importance of replacing most extracted teeth stems from the potential impacts that losing the tooth can have on your oral health, especially in the long term. For example, tooth loss commonly causes other teeth to shift out of place, exposing them to damage and increased risks of infection. This can also affect your bite function, causing an imbalance that places too much stress on some teeth, as well as your jaw joints and muscles. Also, losing the root of the tooth can negatively impact the health and integrity of your jawbone structure, causing it to lose mass and density over time.
How a dental implant restores the tooth’s function
The impacts of losing or extracting a tooth will continue to affect your oral health unless the loss is addressed as soon as possible. This can be accomplished most successfully with the help of a dental implant, which is the only solution for replacing the root that was lost or extracted from your jawbone. A dental implant can support a custom-designed crown to replace the tooth with optimal realism, and with the ability to restore a majority of the tooth’s healthy, natural function.
Replace an extracted tooth with a dental implant
When certain teeth need to be extracted, preserving your smile afterward could require replacing the tooth with a dental implant restoration. To learn more, schedule a consultation by calling Santa Rosa Oral Surgery in Santa Rosa, CA, today at 707-545-4625.