Dental Implants Benefits Over 3-Unit Bridge - 08/12/2008

Why Dental Implants?
Everyone deserves a beautiful smile. With the tremendous advances in esthetic dentistry, there's no need to put up with anything less. With Nobel Biocare implants, a missing tooth can now be easily, comfortably, and permanently replaced.

Keep Looking Younger
When you lose your teeth, your jawbone can shrink - making you look older. Implants help prevent this process.

Eat Whatever You Want
Like natural teeth, your new teeth are strong, stable, and secure, so you can comfortably eat all your favorite foods.

A Life-Long Solution
Nobel Biocare dental implants are a long-lasting solution - often for life.

A Happier Life
Beautiful new teeth can give you back the confidence you may have lost. They can transform your daily life!

3-Unit Bridge - The Traditional Option

Historically, a bridge was used to replace a single missing tooth. Bridges are constructed of metal sub-frames with tooth-colored porcelain applied to approximate the natural color of your existing teeth.

Bridges use the teeth on either side of your missing tooth to provide support for the artificial tooth that fills-in the space where your natural tooth is missing.

The goal of the bridge is to restore chewing function and achieve an acceptable esthetic outcome.

Unfortunately, bone under the replacement tooth is no longer stimulated by chewing and is often reabsorbed into the body, creating a slowly growing gap between the replacement tooth and the gums.

Key Attributes:

Slightly less expensive
Achieves acceptable esthetic outcome
Restores chewing function

Drawbacks:

Requires grinding down of healthy adjacent teeth
Potential for increased risk to the prepared teeth
Bone resorption results in compromised esthetics over time
Life span of only 5 to 7 years
May contain metal
Single Tooth Implant - The State-of-the-Art Solution

Dental implants often provide a more advanced replacement for the missing tooth than a traditional bridge, and preserves adjacent teeth.

Dental implants are small metal screws designed specifically to replace your natural tooth root. Manufactured from titanium, dental implants provide a highly biocompatible surface, encouraging bone to attach to the implant during the healing process to ensure long-term results.

Dental implants do not require the adjacent teeth to be modified. They also create stimulation to the underlying bone.

Restoration with all-ceramic components (crown and abutment) can result in a beautiful, natural-looking, translucent tooth, just like the tooth being replaced!

Key Attributes:

Adjacent teeth remain intact - no grinding required
Stimulation restored to underlying bone; bone integrity is preserved
Helps maintain long-term, esthetic results
Titanium is strong and naturally accepted by the body

Drawbacks:

Slightly higher cost than bridge