Dental implants are probably the most amazing development in dentistry in the last century or more. The ability to replace a lost tooth cannot be overestimated in its importance to giving you improved quality of life. Here are just a few of the many benefits that come from replacing a lost or badly damaged tooth with a dental implant.

Better Chewing

A gap in your teeth, or a tooth that is so badly damaged it needs to be removed and replaced, can make it hard for you to chew. Without a full set of teeth, it can be hard to break down your food into small enough pieces, which can make it take longer to eat, increase your risk of choking, and lead to more indigestion.

People with partial dentures also experience problems with chewing. In many cases, wearers simply take the denture out to make it easier to chew, but then they have the same problem as above.

A dental implant functions just like your natural teeth, making it an ideal replacement option when it comes to chewing.

More Comfortable Bite

Another problem with having a gap or a badly damaged tooth is that your teeth may have a harder time holding your jaw in a proper place when chewing or when heating, or when swallowing, or anchoring the other muscles in the body during physical exertion.

If your teeth aren’t performing their job in maintaining balance in the jaw system, an imbalance among the other elements, such as the jaw muscles and the jaw joint, can develop. This can result in TMJ, including TMJ headaches.

Less Pain

In addition to pain in the jaw system, you may experience pain directly where there’s a missing tooth or a damaged tooth. Chewing with an abscessed or cracked tooth is especially painful, causing pain every time you bite down there.

If you have a missing tooth, though, the gums may be highly sensitive and may also cause significant pain when you chew.

You may try to avoid chewing on the side with the sensitive tooth, but it’s very hard to keep this up over a long period of time, and you likely slip every now and again.

More Attractive Smile

And it almost goes without saying–but needs to be said–that a dental implant will make your smile much more attractive. A gap in your smile is one of the most obvious cosmetic defects in your smile, and the one that most people judge harshly when appraising your smile. Having a missing tooth not only makes you look older and less healthy, people often assume you are less educated and have less money if you have a missing tooth.

These are just a few of the benefits of a dental implant. If you are tired of living with a missing or damaged tooth, please call (912) 234-8282 for an appointment with a cosmetic dentist in Savannah at Beyond Exceptional Dentistry.