If a dam sprung a leak near your home, what would you want to happen? Would you want public officials to wait and see what happens? Or would you prefer that they acted quickly to prevent the leak from getting larger and risking greater damage to the area? We think we know the answer, but we also want you to keep that in mind. Today, we are talking about a tooth loss and replacement. In a way, losing a tooth is like a leak in the dam. When you lose one tooth, you are more likely to lose more teeth unless you do something to replace your missing tooth. At Sunrise Dental, we recommend dental implants for these situations. This service can make your replacement teeth feel and function like natural teeth. To find out if dental implants can help you, all your need to do is schedule a consultation with one of our dentists in Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, or Raleigh. Now, let’s try to answer the question in the title of our post. When should you consider getting dental implants? When You Are Missing One Or More Teeth Losing teeth is not something that anyone wants to do, but it happens. The older we get, the more likely it is, too. The leading cause of tooth loss in the United States is gum disease. In the latter stages of this condition, your gums can pull away from your teeth (making them less secure) and the disease may attack the bone holding the roots of your teeth. Tooth decay is another common cause of tooth loss and removal, and injuries and accidents can leave your teeth too damaged to save or knock the tooth out completely. Dental implants are meant to replace the root of your missing teeth. This means implants can support the replacements for the crowns of your teeth, too. A single lost tooth can be replaced with a dental crown. Multiple lost teeth can be replaced with a dental bridge. You can even replace all your teeth with implant-supported dentures (which we will discuss again later in this post). When You Want To Prevent More Tooth Loss Replacing your missing tooth or teeth is important for more than one reason. From a cosmetic perspective, you would rather have your teeth — or something that looks like teeth — instead of a gap in your smile. From a functional perspective, you need teeth to eat. No matter which teeth you lost, they had a purpose. Without those teeth, the rest of your teeth will need to work that much harder, which good lead to additional problems down the road. Your jaw and your teeth have what could be considered a symbiotic relationship. Your roots push into your jawbone, and that causes your jaw to create new bone tissue on a regular basis. That new tissue keeps your jaw healthy and strong, which makes your teeth more secure. When you lose just one tooth, your jaw may not replace the tissue in that part of your mouth as quickly as it needed. This can lead to problems for neighboring teeth over time. It’s also why losing one tooth can have a slow, but real domino effect. A dental implant will provide the same kind of pressure that your roots did to keep your jawbone healthy. And that could be the key to preventing additional lost teeth. When You Are Tired Of Your Dentures You may already be missing one or both rows of teeth. You may have had dentures for years. And you may have grown frustrating with having to get refitted from time to time. Without teeth, you are losing jawbone density. This changes the shape of your mouth, and that affects how your dentures fit. Even when your dentures fit comfortably, you may have noticed that you can’t bite or chew as well as you could before you lost your teeth. You can solve both of those problems at the same time with a set of implant-supported dentures. A series of implants can provide stimulation throughout your jaw. This won’t replace the bone that you’ve lost, but it can prevent additional bone loss. With your implants in place, you dentures will have a more stable and more secure foundation of support. This will increase the power in your bite so you can eat many foods that you love once again. Find Your Own Answers The issues we mentioned above are good reasons for anyone with missing teeth to consider dental implants.  You may have your own reasons for wanting them, too, like being able to tell your grandkids a story with your “teeth” falling out or being able to order anything that you want from the menu when you dine out with your family and friends. To find out if you are a good candidate for implants, make an appointment at the nearest Sunrise Dental in Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, or Raleigh.