When you are new to having to replace lost teeth, you are suddenly faced with things you have never had to think about. You find yourself having to ask about dentures, about fixed bridgework and about dental implants in Southampton. What are they? Why do people seem to think they are the bee’s knees? Let’s take a look at what makes them so popular.
It’s all about attachment
When you think about your teeth, you will notice that they are very firmly embedded into sockets in your jaw, where they are attached to the bone by hundreds of fleshy fibres.
Dentures and bridges are not attached to the jawbone. Dentures rely on adhesin to the gums and bridgework piggy backs on neighbouring teeth using their roots for stability but compromising the crowns in the process, as they have to be ground down to become buttresses.
Dental implants in Southampton replace the root of the tooth, and are embedded into specially created channels in the jawbone. This is done under local anaesthetic, which is plenty to numb the area as there aren’t very many nerves in the jawbone. Some people feel pretty daunted by the idea of having dental implants in Southampton fitted, so we offer oral or intravenous sedation. It’s important to be able to relax while we work on you.
Once we have put the dental implants in, the next stage of the process begins. This is called osseointegration. This is when the implants, which are made of titanium, become fixed into the jawbone. Titanium is very compatible with body tissue and the bone grows new tissue, including blood vessels all over it, fusing with it. Depending on your healing abilities, this process takes 2-6 months and it is only after this that you can use your implants properly. Before then you will need to be on a liquid diet and then a soft food diet. But afterwards the fun starts. You can eat whatever you want again, even foods, like steak, that require some serious chewing.
Taking care of your dental implants in Southampton is a matter of keeping gum disease at bay with careful brushing and flossing, and regular cleanings with your hygienist.
