Are you smiling less these days? After you lose teeth, it's only natural to feel a little self-conscious every time you smile. Thanks to dental implants, there's no need to keep your smile to yourself any longer. Our DeSoto and Dallas, TX, dentist, Dr. Saheed Lawal-Solarin, explains how you can benefit from dental implants.

Implants improve your appearance

Dental implants fill in the gaps in your teeth, restoring your smile. Implants take the place of lost roots, while crowns restore the part of your tooth that the world sees. Crowns are made from impressions of your mouth and are designed to look and feel completely natural.

Dental implants make eating easier

Do you remember the days when you took biting and chewing for granted? Since you've lost one or more teeth, you may find it harder to bite into foods or chew them thoroughly. If you've lost many teeth, your inability to bite and chew may even affect your health, particularly if you're replacing nutritious foods with softer ones.

Because dental implants fuse to your jawbone, they offer an excellent long-term replacement for your lost tooth roots. Biting and chewing feels just as it did before you lost your teeth. If you've lost all of your teeth, implant-supported dentures can even help you avoid the loss of biting power common with full dentures. Because full dentures aren't supported by roots, it's very difficult to eat hard or tough foods. Implant-supported dentures are attached to a metal framework that connects to your implants, which means that your biting power won't change very much.

The three-step dental implant process

During your first implant appointment, an opening will be made in your mouth to hold your dental implant. Once the implant is in place, it will slowly fuse to your jawbone, a process that takes three to six months. When your implant bonds to the bone completely, you'll receive an abutment, a piece added to the top of the implant that connects the implant to the crown. At this appointment, we'll also make an impression of your mouth in our DeSoto or Dallas office that will be used to create your crown.

You'll return to our office to be fitted with your permanent crown just a few weeks later. In some cases, it may be possible to receive an implant and crown on the same day.

Restore your smile with dental implants. Call Dr. Solarin at (972) 274-9300 to schedule an appointment in the DeSoto office or (214) 374-7100 to make an appointment in the Dallas office.