If you've decided to restore your smile, we applaud you! A full smile not only boosts your self-esteem. It makes speaking and laughing with friends a breeze and also contributes to better oral health in the long term.
Tooth loss affects your daily life in ways that are easy to take for granted. You may not be able to comfortably enjoy many of the foods you love. You might feel self-conscious in conversations or avoid smiling in photos. The good news is that there are excellent options for getting your smile back. It's just a matter of choosing the one that works best for your needs, budget, and smile goals.
Dental Implants or Dentures? Here's What You Need to Know
Your dentist in Vallejo, CA, provides an exam and consultation to discuss the pros and cons of the tooth replacement options—not only in general but also based on findings following your exam. Considerations include your jawbone health and overall wellness.
Dental Implants in Vallejo: The Pros and Cons
When it comes to tooth replacement, dental implants are the only choice if you're looking for a solution that tackles your missing tooth and its valuable root. With this option, you can preserve your jawbone, which deteriorates when a tooth root is missing.
Here's how they work: your dentist places the implant directly into your jawbone, where it fuses and integrates as part of your dental anatomy, just like a natural root. Once healed, a custom crown made of ceramic porcelain is attached to the implant. The crown is matched to your existing teeth so it blends naturally with your smile.
Dental implants truly are just like starting over after tooth loss, looking and functioning like natural teeth. Even the way you care for a dental implant is natural and ingrained—brush, floss, and visit your dentist for exams and teeth cleanings. And while they are more affordable than ever before, they are still one of the more expensive tooth replacement options.
Dentures in Vallejo: The Pros and Cons
You may be picturing the dentures that your parents or grandparents wore, the ones that didn't look natural or fit well. Today's dentures and partials are a different story. Your dentist designs them based on your facial structure and plans the aesthetics with your skin tone in mind, so they both look and feel more like your natural teeth than ever before.
Dentures are affordable, time-tested, and practical. They're also one of the most inexpensive tooth replacement options. However, they do require added steps for maintenance, including eventual relines in our dental office and adhesives if your jawbone begins to deteriorate without replacement tooth roots. Without these measures, your denture can slip when you're speaking or chewing and lose its snug fit.
Dentures Meet Implants: The Best of Both Worlds
If you just can't decide, ask our dentist about implant-supported dentures or bridges. With implant-supported dentures, four to six dental implants support an entire fixed denture, giving you all the practicality of dentures with the stability of implants. This is typically a less expensive option than one implant for each missing tooth. Dental implants can also support a bridge to replace several missing teeth without a full denture.
We're Here to Help You Restore Your Smile
Making the right decision for your smile isn't always easy, but Dr. Nordstrom and Dr. Thai are here to help. Reach out today to get started or call us at (707) 643-2660 to schedule your evaluation.