You wander over to the buffet table. You can’t wait to pile on the food — your cousin’s mac-and-cheese, some grilled steak or maybe chicken (or both). You will save some room for your sister’s cherry cobbler, however.
Not long ago, the thought of chewing chicken or steak might have seemed uncomfortable. When you had loose-fitting dentures, chewing could seem like a chore. Your jaw would get sore, and you often felt hungry because you wouldn’t have the energy to eat your whole meal.
That changed after you visited Smith & Wetterhus Dentistry in Puyallup, WA. You received mini dental implants, and now, you can eat anything you want with your replacement teeth. It’s amazing how much of a difference those little screws have made in your oral health and in your quality of life.
Don’t let this scenario seem like a dream. Call 253-999-9419 today to set up a consultation. Find out what mini implants could do for you.
Dental Implants 101
Before we explain why you may want mini implants, we first need to discuss the general benefits of having implant-support dentures.
Implants have transformed what is possible with restorative dentistry. It’s about more than just giving you a natural-looking smile. With implants, you can bite with nearly as much force as someone with all their real teeth.
The reason for this is that implants are embedded directly into your jawbone (like your roots once were). Implants are made of titanium because your jaw will bond directly with this metal, much like it bonds to the roots of natural teeth. This holds your implants securely in place, making them a stable foundation to support a set of dentures (as well as bridges and crowns).
That creates a direct connection from your jaw to your dentures, which is why you can bite and chew practically as well as you could before you lost your teeth. You can feel confident biting into an apple or chewing a bite of chicken.
Implants also are good for your jaw health. When you had all your teeth, your roots stimulated your jaw bone each time you bit or chewed something. That led to new bone growth, which in turn, prevented bone loss and kept your jaw healthy.
Traditional dentures don’t stimulate your jawbone in the same way since they rest over your gums. That also brings us to why you may need mini implants, instead.
Go Small & Get Full Benefits
As we noted above, traditional dentures don’t prevent the kind of bone loss that occurs when someone loses teeth. That bone loss also affects the shape of your face, and it may leave your jaw too small to support standard implants.
In that situation, one option is to get a bone graft. This is essentially a bone tissue transplant used to rebuild the jaw so you can support standard implants. That also means an addition procedure and recovery time before you can get implant-supported dentures.
Since mini implants are smaller, they can be used where standard implants won’t. Mini implants also provide the same benefits as standard implants. Minis allow you to eat what you want to eat, and while they won’t regrow lost bone, they can prevent further bone loss.
Get Ready To Eat What You Want Again
Don’t let loose dentures rob you of your smile and limit your diet. Get mini dental implants at Smith & Wetterhus Dentistry to feel like yourself again. Call 253-999-9419 or contact us online to request a consultation.