I understand why dental implants are important if you are losing all of your teeth. But what if you’re just having one tooth extracted? Is there the same risk of facial collapse? I do need to have a tooth extracted. At the moment I cannot afford a dental implant so I’m hoping there is an alternative for me.
Bella
Dear Bella,
While you won’t be in danger of complete facial collapse the way you would be if you had all of your teeth extracted, the area where you do extract a tooth will lose bone bone structure in that spot.
If you can’t afford a dental implant in that spot right away, you could get a removable partial denture or even a dental flipper as a temporary replacement.
You will still lose bone in that area, but only in that area. Plus, it will at least hold the space open for a dental implant while you save up for one. If it takes a long time for you to save up, you may have to also save up for some bone grafting. This is a procedure that builds up the bone in that area in order to support the implant.
Depending on the condition of the teeth on either side of the extraction site, a dental bridge may be a good option as well. With this procedure, you would suspend a false tooth between two dental crowns. If either of those teeth are already in need of a crown, a dental bridge would make more sense because you would be taking care of two issues at once.
As an esthetic consideration, if your extracted tooth is visible when you smile, you want to consider the color you will want in the long run. Once the replacement is made, you cannot change its color. So, if you are wanting a whiter smile any time in the near future, you will want to have teeth whitening done before having the replacement made so it can be made to match the color you want.
If the tooth isn’t visible when you smile, then I wouldn’t worry about that at all.
This blog is brought to you by Portage, MI Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.