Dental Implants

There are endless reasons our patients end up with a gap in their smile. Maybe it was a necessary extraction, a dental accident, or advanced periodontal disease. Inevitably through the process, many wonder: do I really need to replace my lost tooth?

At Spokane Dental, Dr. Smith uses his expertise and advanced education along with state of the art technology to help patients achieve and protect their amazing smile. Our team is trained to look at the whole picture, because we know just how vital oral health is to overall well-being and quality of life. A missing tooth is not simply an aesthetic issue, and we are here to walk alongside our patients through the whole process of restoration.

The Problem With Missing Teeth

From a patient’s perspective, often the only problem with a missing tooth would be aesthetic. And if you cannot see the gap, or the patient doesn’t mind it, then why bother replacing the lost tooth? From a dental perspective, however, we see a potential problem that could affect the teeth surrounding the gap, patient comfort, and quality of life.

Seem a little far fetched? Let’s put it this way: our jaw bones, teeth, and gums have what you could think of as a symbiotic relationship. This means that they depend on each other to function well both as a whole and individually. Compromise one, and you compromise the rest. Not only that, but our oral health has a direct relationship on our overall health.

Now let’s circle back to a missing tooth. When we lose a tooth, it can compromise the teeth around the gap, the bone surrounding those teeth, and the tooth on the jaw above it. One missing tooth can cause a chain reaction that compromises surrounding teeth and bones. Replacing a missing tooth could mean keeping the rest of your smile healthier longer.

The Solution

Dental implants are the gold standard when it comes to tooth replacement, and is a service that we have the technology and expertise to offer our patients. A dental implant is unique in the fact that it acts and is used much like a real tooth.

The dental implant is placed directly into the jaw, sitting on a titanium post that acts as a tooth root. Because the dental implant has a “root”, the bone surrounding the implant (and the teeth next to it) will stay healthier. Alveolar bone (the bone of the jaw that surrounds the teeth) only stays at healthy levels when it is being subjected to the force of chewing. If there is no tooth being “chewed on”, the bone will resorb in that spot. A dental implant can quite literally save other teeth.

Aesthetically, a dental implant looks just like a natural tooth. Homecare is also straightforward: you can brush and floss an implant with a soft bristled toothbrush and floss. Overall, these factors make the dental implant the gold standard for lasting oral health. There are other options for replacing a gap in your smile that our team can talk through with you as well, although the benefits of acting like a “real” tooth in the mouth lie solely with an implant.

Getting a dental implant does not have to be an intimidating or complicated process. Dr. Smith and your Spokane Dental team have everything covered from diagnosis, restoration, and maintenance of your dental implant. If you are considering a dental implant and would like to know if it is the best option for you, call us today at (509)822-5614 to schedule an appointment! Our expertise goes far beyond dental implants and restoration as well: we can meet the dental needs of your entire family!