So, where do dental implants come into the picture? As you may already know, dental implants are small pieces of titanium that are meant to act as artificial tooth roots. Dr. Hiba Alqasemi or Dr. Ziad Adham will place the implant into your gums and jaw bone, right where your missing tooth used to be.

Over time, the titanium implant heals and permanently bonds with the jaw bone, in a process known as “osseointegration.” This stabilizes the implant. Once it’s fully healed, the implant holds a dental crown or another type of dental restoration in place.

Once your new tooth is in place, the dental implant transmits the force and pressure of biting, chewing, and smiling into your jaw bone, just like a natural tooth root would have. This stimulation strengthens and preserves the bone tissue, preventing it from weakening over time. So just like a real tooth, a dental implant helps keep your jaw bone healthy.

This is not the case with other types of tooth restoration, like dental bridges or partial dentures. These don’t actually attach to the underlying jaw bone, So, while they will restore your tooth and allow you to bite and chew normally, dentures and dental bridges don’t prevent bone resorption after tooth loss.