Did you know that only 100 years ago half of the U.S. adult population had not teeth? Obviously, dental technology in 1914 was nowhere close to where it is now, and it showed. Fortunately, dental care has improved so drastically over the past half century, or so, that less than 10% of American senior citizens have lost all of their natural teeth.
A generation ago, there were few options for people who were missing teeth. If you ended up losing a tooth as a result of an accident, your only option was getting a dental bridge. But bridges were far from ideal, because they could be bulky and cumbersome, and not to mention being difficult to clean.
For people who lost all of their teeth, removable dentures were the way to go. As far as the drawbacks of dentures, if you have ever known anyone with dentures, you don’t have to be told. If you haven’t, lets just say you are better off avoiding them in the morning before they insert their dentures.
Fortunately, things have improved considerably for people who are missing anywhere from one tooth to all 32. This is because the best dentists can give almost anyone new teeth now. If you are missing one tooth, dental implant surgery can give you a brand new, natural-looking tooth replacement. If a person is missing several teeth, they might opt for all on four dental implants.
Both the mini dental implant and all on four implant procedures utilize titanium posts that dentists insert into the jawbone via their patients’ empty tooth pockets. Over about 12 weeks, the titanium and jawbone will form a bond that can be stronger than a natural tooth. The only difference between a single implants and all on four implants is the number of titanium posts use. A single implants involves the insertion of one post, while all on four implants require four posts for each row of teeth.
If you have been living with missing teeth for any length of time, it is finally possible for you to have new teeth now. By contacting any top dentist, you can rest assured that he or she will have the perfect tooth replacement solution for you.