Dental Implants – Jacksonville, FL

Day-to-Day Benefits

• Instead of sitting on top of the gums, implants are firmly rooted in the jawbone. This means that you won’t need to worry about your teeth slipping out of place.
• You’ll be able to enjoy nearly all of the chewing power that you had with your original pearly whites, so you won’t have to restrict your diet as denture wearers often do.
• The crowns, bridges, or dentures that we place on top of your implants are custom-made to fit right in with your smile, ensuring they blend in seamlessly.
• When it comes to daily hygiene, caring for dental implants is quite similar to caring for natural teeth. You don’t need to worry about taking out your prosthetic teeth and scrubbing or soaking them; instead, you can brush and floss your implant restorations as if they were the teeth you’d been born with.

Health Benefits

• Loose, poorly fitting dentures may slide around in the mouth, causing gum sores and irritation. Since dental implants remain in place at all times, they won’t agitate your gum tissue.
• To provide enough support for a dental bridge, we’d need to remove some enamel from two of your remaining teeth. This can leave those teeth weaker and more susceptible to sensitivity, breakage, and decay. Luckily, dental implants are self-reliant and don’t require us to modify any of your healthy tooth structure.
• Because implants are so easy to maintain, they naturally reduce the risk of gum disease and other common oral health problems.
• Dentures make it difficult to chew many nutritious foods, such as raw fruits and vegetables. With the chewing strength that implants provide, it should be a snap to get plenty of healthy foods into your diet.
• After a tooth has gone missing, the jawbone in the area starts to shrink and change shape, which can make the remaining teeth less stable over time. Implants are the only treatment that can stop and even reverse this process.

Long-Term Benefits

• Jawbone deterioration as a result of tooth loss can make your face appear sunken-in, wrinkled, and overall, much older than you really are. By preventing this from occurring, dental implants help you keep your youthful glow for many years to come.
• With consistent oral hygiene and routine dental checkups, an implant can easily be expected to last for 30 years or more.
• Although implants have a higher up-front price tag than dentures and bridges, they won’t need to be replaced as often. Therefore, they can actually save you much more money in the long run.

Make Oral Hygiene a Priority

The restorations on top of your dental implants can’t develop cavities, but they still need to be brushed and flossed like natural teeth. Otherwise, they could harbor bacteria that attacks the gum tissue holding your implants in place. Eventually, this could lead to dental implant failure. Not to mention, it could cause decay if you have any natural teeth left. Make sure that you’re flossing every day and brushing at least twice daily for two minutes each session.

Eat a Healthy Diet

Treating yourself to the occasional candy bar or bag of potato chips shouldn’t be an issue, but remember that moderation is key. Harmful bacteria in the mouth feed on sugary and starchy particles that linger on the teeth, making it easier for them to cause cavities or gum infections that could jeopardize your implants. Make sure that your diet is rich in fresh fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, and dairy products. Vitamin C and calcium are particularly beneficial when you have dental implants in Jacksonville, as they promote healthy gums and bone, respectively.

Break Bad Habits

Do you smoke, chew on pen caps, or bite your fingernails when you’re stressed? Do you sometimes try to save time by opening packages with your teeth? These habits can all too easily spell disaster for your new pearly whites. You should never use your teeth as tools for anything other than chewing food; the extra force from these habits could lead to breakage. Smoking is one of the worst things you could do for your health, as it increases the risk of gum disease, oral cancer, and numerous other conditions. Ask your implant dentist in Jacksonville if you need help kicking bad oral habits.

Protect Your Dental Implants

Most people remember to wear a helmet when playing certain sports, but they forget to protect their teeth by wearing a mouthguard. Our team can make you one of these oral appliances that perfectly fits your unique smile and shields your teeth (implant or natural) from severe injury due to impact. On a similar note, you should wear a nightguard if you suffer from bruxism, or chronic nighttime teeth grinding. This habit could weaken your implants and teeth to the point where they break more easily.

Schedule Regular Dental Checkups

When you visit us twice a year for a routine checkup, our dentists have the opportunity to detect small issues with your implants that you may not have noticed yourself. This way, they can stop oral health problems in their tracks, preventing them from harming your smile.