Dental implants by The Garden Dental Practice

Tooth loss is very unpleasant and most patients resign themselves to it. But did you know that teeth lost, however long ago, can be completely replaced by us with dental implants Golders Green?

Whether it's a single one or a set of teeth, the typical solution to any missing teeth is a prosthetic. Unfortunately, oral prosthetics have had drawbacks in the way they are fixed into your mouth. Wire fixed bridges place stress on adjacent teeth and traditional friction based dentures can easily form sores along the gum line.

This is where dental implants Golders Green have stepped in to provide a permanent solution to anchoring a prosthetic into a patient's mouth, fixing it firmly in place. These artificial roots can be used singly as the mount for a crown-like prosthetic, or in sets to anchor and immobilise a denture or partial denture.

Each implant is a titanium rod, which is placed into the jawline either using an existing vacant socket or a new socket has been drilled. This is how dental implants Golders Green can be used to replace a tooth that was lost many decades ago, the socket of which has long since closed. When paired with a well-fabricated and colour-matched prosthetic, implants can seamlessly fit into your smile and would be hard to distinguish from any natural tooth.

When many teeth are lost at the same time, there is a significantly lighter load applied to your jaw and along with the physical loss of the teeth can lead to degeneration in the density of the jawbone, alongside a reduction in its mineral content. One of the advantages of implants over dentures is that the implants physically replace the lost bone material and apply pressure from chewing and talking to the jaw, maintaining its density. This not only has the health benefits of maintaining good bone strength, but the aesthetic ones of helping to avoid a gaunt appearance associated with the loss of mass in the jawbone.

The number of implants we would use to immobilise a denture is highly variable and based on the individual patient. We use a set of X-rays and CT scans in order to build up a 3D image of the patient's jaw, from there we can predict which areas require an implant. This helps to not only improve their density, but also to spread the load that will inevitably be placed on them during everyday wear and tear.

Sections of the jaw which have begun to recede may have too little bone to accept an implant forcing adjacent areas to be used. Implants into the upper jaw must be placed cautiously to avoid damage to the sinuses or facial nerves.

But assuming you are suitable for an immobilised denture, 6 to 8 per set is usually what is required. There are some surgeries that can attempt to immobilise dentures with less, but this is not an area where you wish to cut corners or try to minimise costs. The use of 6-8 implants will result in an extremely firm, long-lasting, immobilised denture and after full integration into the jaw, they will feel entirely natural and rock steady.