When you grew up, you might have seen or heard your grandparents struggle with their false teeth. They often felt loose, unstable, and weak, severely limiting your grandparents’ diet, but with dental implants today, you can maintain a powerful bite even after tooth loss! However, with such strong elements, dental implants may seem like they would be stronger than natural teeth. Is this the case? Read on to find out more!
Why Is Having a Strong Bite Important?
Implants aren’t about simply restoring the appearance of teeth, because the strength of your prosthetic grin matters more! Without a strong bite, you won’t be able to eat and chew certain foods, especially tough, chewy, hard, or fibrous foods. These often-nutritious options require powerful force to grind and mash them into smaller pieces for your stomach; otherwise, you can struggle with indigestion, not get proper nutrition, or only eat softer foods. Unfortunately, softer foods tend to be more processed and contain significantly fewer nutrients, paving the way for conditions that could impair your quality of life, like diabetes, or for potentially life-shortening issues like heart disease and more.
What Makes Dental Implants Strong?
When judged against traditional dentures and bridges, dental implants stand out as the most powerful tooth replacement choice. Unlike these alternatives, implants replace the root as well as the crown, which means it is firmly grounded in the oral cavity, as opposed to sitting on top of the gums. As a result, you don’t have to worry about your prosthetic teeth shifting as you bite or chew, giving you more power and confidence to eat tougher foods.
Are Dental Implants Stronger Than Tooth Enamel?
Although dental implants are made of titanium posts and porcelain and/or plastic restorations, the natural teeth your body produces still can provide the greatest biting strength. Your enamel is incredibly strong, and dental ceramics are durable, but they can also become chipped or cracked when used improperly. Plus, your bite depends mostly on your jawbone strength. In other words, you may not feel your replacement bite’s new capability right away. It could take time to build back up to 70 percent of your original biting strength at its peak.
At this point, you may think it might be worth losing the hassle of cavity-prone natural enamel for prosthetics; however, it’s almost always better for patients to hold onto their real teeth for as long as possible than it is to remove healthy teeth and then replace them with fake ones. Although dental implants are indeed powerful, they still stand second only to real, natural teeth.
Every day, innovations in the dental field allow quality of life and life expectancy continue to improve. Even if you have suffered losing one, two, or all your teeth, dental implants offer an opportunity to keep eating foods you love and need to lead a fulfilling life, but just keep in mind that if you have the chance to retain and save your real teeth, you certainly should do your best to do so to reap the full benefits of a healthy, natural smile.
About the Practice
Brooks Dental was first opened in 1959 in Winthrop by Dr. Howard Brooks’s father Dr. Barry Brooks. Now, Dr. Stephanie Brooks, Dr. Howard’s daughter and Dr. Barry’s granddaughter, joins the practice to continue the family’s legacy of honest, patient-centered care and excellent clinical experience and training. Our team has the capacity and skills necessary to perform complex treatment like dental implant placement, but we would prefer to help our patients stay strong and healthy. To schedule your dental implant consultation or routine dental checkup and cleaning, call our office at 617-846-1811 or contact us here to make an appointment.