Why Dental Implant Treatment Has Become an Increasingly Popular Choice

Dental implant treatment

Determine the best tooth replacement option for you.

When you lose one or more teeth, what’s the best way to replace them? For years, the go-to prosthodontic treatments were bridges or dentures, but as dental technology and techniques have improved, this advice has changed. Today, dental implants are widely considered to be the best tooth replacement option out there. 

This is reflected by the fact that they’re becoming increasingly popular. Millions of Americans have dental implants, with more and more people choosing them every year. But what sets dental implants apart? Why are so many people choosing dental implant treatment above all others, and is it also the best option for you? 

To help you decide, we’ve broken down the 9 main factors that have made them the most popular tooth replacement option. 

1. Improved Technologies

As all technology improves over time, so does dental technology. Every step of the dental implant treatment process uses advanced technology to give you the best treatment experience and results possible. During the design process, Dr. Alhadef takes digital impressions of your teeth. This does away with traditional putty impressions by simply passing a scanner that’s about the size of an electric toothbrush over your teeth to take high-quality images of them.

The process is comfortable and quick, taking only a few minutes, and produces a detailed 3D model of your teeth and bite. This model is then used to design your dental restoration, including seeing how it will interact with nearby teeth and your bite as a whole. This ensures that it fits perfectly and feels completely natural.

Once it’s time to place your tooth implant, Dr. Alhadef uses laser technology to make the process more precise. Where traditional methods once required dentists to cut a flap in your gums to find the right placement for your implant, using a dental laser allows Dr. Alhadef to simply make a small incision in your gums right over the placement site.

Dental lasers also make the healing process easier in several ways. The first is the fact that they require smaller incisions, but they also decrease the chances of infection by sterilizing as they cut and encouraging healing. Plus, they cause less bleeding and minimize the need for stitches, making using them a real win-win scenario! 

2. High Success Rates

Dental implants have incredibly high success rates, with some studies showing a 5-year success rate of 98.6%. That’s an incredibly high success rate for any surgical procedure! Taking care of your dental implant with a great at-home oral hygiene routine keeps your teeth and gums healthy, improving the chances that your implant will survive for a lifetime. Implants’ success goes beyond their ability to just survive, though, as the same study found that over 99% of patients said that they were happy with their dental implant treatment results. 

3. Versatility

Under the surface, all dental implants look the same, consisting of a new titanium metal tooth root, but above the surface, they can be secured with a wide range of tooth restorations. A single dental implant is secured with a dental crown, but several implants can be secured with a bridge, partial dentures, or full dentures. They can replace anywhere from a single tooth to all of your teeth, which gives them the versatility to meet a wide range of treatment needs and wants. 

4. Natural Look and Feel

No matter what type of restoration you choose for your implants, they’re designed and made just for you. These restorations are generally crafted from porcelain, which is easy to tint so that it matches the shade and gloss of your natural teeth. Even the shape and size of your crown are tailored to you, with plenty of input from you to ensure that you love the results. This customizability ensures that your new smile looks completely natural whether you’re getting a single new tooth or a completely new smile.

Dental implants don’t just look natural, though—they also feel natural. After all, they’re rooted directly into your jawbone like natural tooth roots, which provides a unique sense of strength and security that’s only matched by natural teeth. Put simply, dental implants are the closest thing to reclaiming your missing tooth in both feeling and appearance. 

5. Comfort

The same deep-rooted stability that helps dental implants feel like natural teeth also helps them function that way, making them more secure—and thus more comfortable—than other tooth replacement options, especially dentures. While traditional dentures shouldn’t slip around if they fit well, bone loss frequently changes the way they fit, so slipping can become a problem. Thankfully, you don’t have to worry about tooth implants slipping when you speak, laugh, or eat.

This holds true whether you have implant-supported dentures or a single implant. You simply don’t have to give your implants a second thought! It creates a level of physical and mental comfort that’s unmatched by any other tooth replacement option. 

6. Durability and Longevity

Just like natural teeth, implants are designed to last a lifetime with proper care. You should never have to replace the implants themselves, making this treatment a great long-term investment for many people. The restorations placed on top of dental implants aren’t quite as long-lasting, so they’ll need to be replaced eventually due to wear and tear. They’re usually made from porcelain, which is about as durable as your natural teeth. Any actions, habits, or blows that would risk chipping, cracking, or breaking your natural teeth also risk damaging porcelain restorations, but if you take great care of them, they should last for years before you need to replace them. 

7. Convenient At-Home Care  

Dental implants are easy to care for at home, which makes them incredibly convenient. The exact care instructions vary a little depending on what type of restoration is placed on your implants, but generally, you simply have to give them the same care as your natural teeth. This means brushing your teeth for two minutes twice a day, flossing and using mouthwash at least once a day, and visiting your dentist for a regular checkup every six months. Doing this gives your implant the best chance of long-term success—plus, it helps keep your teeth and gums healthy. 

8. Preserve Jawbone Structure

Despite all their other benefits, it’s dental implants’ unique ability to preserve the structure of your jawbone that often earns them the title of the best tooth replacement option available. Their ability to do this comes down to the fact that they replace your tooth root—something no other tooth replacement option does. 

Your jawbone needs constant stimulation from your tooth roots, often achieved through pressure as you bite into and chew food, to stay healthy. It’s this constant stimulation that tells your body to continue sending nutrients to your jaw. It’s so important that without it, your body actually begins reabsorbing the bone where your missing tooth root is. By replacing your natural tooth roots, dental implants continue providing this stimulation to your jawbone, keeping it strong and healthy. By extension, this also keeps any surrounding teeth healthy because it keeps the supporting structure of bone beneath them strong. 

9. More and More Affordable

As implants become more popular, improved dental technology makes placing them easier, and more insurance companies begin offering coverage for them, they’re becoming more affordable. Their affordability becomes even more clear when you begin considering the long-term costs of other treatments versus that of dental implant treatment. Although dental implants have a larger upfront cost than other options, they often come out on top when you look at long-term costs. Their longevity and their ability to protect your oral health save you dental bills from future treatments and adjusting or replacing restorations. 

If you’re still worried about affording that immediate cost, though, don’t worry! We can estimate how much, if anything, your insurance is likely to cover and Dallas Cosmetic Dental also partners with CareCredit to help ensure that you get the treatment you need without breaking your budget.

Discuss Dental Implants with your Highland Park, TX, dentist.

With so many benefits, including many that no other tooth replacement option can provide, it’s easy to see why dental implant treatment is becoming increasingly popular and is often labeled the best tooth replacement option. If you’d like to learn more about dental implant treatment and whether it’s right for you, feel free to schedule a consultation with Dr. Alhadef at any time.