| Nowadays the
ideal way of replacing missing teeth is often
by means of implants. Implants are made of
titanium, and fit into the bone to take the
place of the missing tooth root. Once an implant
is firmly in place we use it in much the same
way as the original root, and fit a natural
looking porcelain crown onto it.
We use implants for 3 main purposes:
- to support crowns to replace individual
missing teeth
- to support bridges to replace several
missing adjacent teeth
- to give extra stability to full or partial
dentures
Implant crowns offer many advantages over
the more traditional bridges which used
to be the only alternative:
- they are fixed in place, and feel just
like a natural tooth
- they look very natural as they are not
attached to the neighbouring teeth
- no preparation of the neighbouring teeth
is involved
- as a single unit they are much easier
to keep clean than a bridge
- they function just like a natural tooth
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