Despite the efficacy and natural-looking aesthetics of dental implants, some people find it hard to let go of their few remaining teeth in order to have them replaced with full arch dental implants. Depending on the condition of those remaining teeth, your dentist might advocate for removing the teeth or may look at solutions for keeping them. Take a look at some of the reasons your dentist may recommend tooth extractions to make way for dental implants, along with reasons they may suggest keeping them.
Reasons to Hold On
If you’ve lost most of your teeth, there’s a good chance the few that remain are on their way. But if the teeth are indeed healthy, and the jawbone underneath in good condition, your dentist can come up with a plan to keep the teeth in place while adding dental implants around them. This can be done by using several dental bridges as the restoration to replace a full row of teeth, rather than an overdenture. Single dental implants, with a dental crown as the restoration, can be used to place teeth in small gaps.
Reasons to Let Go
If your remaining teeth are failing, and you’re preparing to get dental implants, there aren’t many sensible reasons for holding on to them. Failing teeth can harbor gum disease, so your fresh start with dental implants could be tarnished by the same gum disease that caused the last of your natural teeth to fail.
If you aren’t quite ready to get dental implants, but plan to in the future, there are procedures your dentist can perform to prevent the area of the jawbone from deteriorating due to the loss of teeth – the jawbone starts to deteriorate when permanent teeth are lost. Ridge preservation is a procedure that stops or slows the deterioration of the jawbone after a tooth extraction.
More on Tooth Extractions in Van Nuys, CA
Take a minute to schedule a consultation with a local dentist to learn more about your options for tooth extractions in Van Nuys, CA.