If you’ve ever thought about getting a smile makeover, chances are your mind turns to things like dental veneers, teeth whitening, gum recontouring, or porcelain crowns. But you probably don’t think about dental implants.
The truth is, even though dental implants are a restorative treatment, they also play unique roles in enhancing your appearance. They essentially serve both a therapeutic and cosmetic role as they rebuild your smile.
How can implants improve the way you look? Here are just a few examples:
Dental Implants Replace Missing Teeth
Any time you have a visibly missing tooth in your smile zone, it tends to detract from your appearance. Typically, most of us like to see a perfect set of healthy teeth from one side of your smile to the other. But even if a back tooth is missing, it can cause your front teeth to start to tilt or shift, leaving gaps between them or changing how your enamel wears down.
The primary role of dental implants is to replace missing teeth. Regardless of where they’re set in your smile, your implant will be custom-designed to look and feel like a natural tooth. When you smile, no one should know anything different. And if the implant is further back in your mouth, it will help you avoid gaps or tooth misalignment in the months and years ahead.
The “tooth” on top of your new dental implant will be matched to blend in with all of the teeth surrounding it.
Adding Fullness to Your Cheeks and Lips
Missing teeth create a void behind your lips and cheeks. When looking at your profile from the outside, those areas of your face may start to appear sunken-in or more sullen-looking than the skin around it.
By installing an implant in the space where your tooth is missing, you’re adding the support behind your soft tissues to bring fullness to your face. In turn, your profile will look healthier and more youthful. The symmetry is also naturally appealing, as our eyes tend to look for consistency across people’s faces from side to side. Asymmetrical areas of sunken-in lips or cheek tissue (because of missing teeth) can detract from your appearance, even if you’ve always felt attractive. Thankfully, dental implants can fix that!
Prevent Premature Aging and Bone Loss
Every time a tooth is extracted or falls out, the bone in that area of your jaw naturally starts to shrink away. We call this process “resorption.” As the bone resorbs, it causes your jaw to shorten and become thinner than it’s supposed to be.
Over time, all of these physical changes in your jaw bone will also change how your facial profile looks. From the outside, your face typically starts to look shorter and more sunken in than before. Even the skin in your cheeks will start to sag or develop creases in them because there’s no longer any reinforcement behind them.
Here’s the great news. Dental implants naturally help prevent bone resorption. In fact, they promote new bone integration in those areas, strengthening your jaw. When topped off with your fixed implant restoration, you’ll be able to enjoy a completely rejuvenated bite and facial appearance.
Dental Implants Boost Your Confidence and Attitude
When you look great, you feel great. And there’s nothing that makes an impression quite like an attractive, healthy smile. When you’re proud of your teeth, you’ll be all the more likely to smile around other people whether you know them or not. And numerous studies have shown when someone smiles often and has healthy-looking teeth, they tend to be seen as happier and friendlier. It’s exactly what you need when you’re interviewing for a new job, getting back into the dating scene, or just want to re-vamp your social life.
If you find that you’re not smiling in photos anymore or avoid social interactions because of your teeth, investing in DFW dental implants is one of the best gifts you can give yourself. Chances are you won’t realize just how confident you feel until you see your smile staring back at you in the mirror.
You’ll Never Need to Remove Your “Teeth”
Have you ever avoided an overnight trip with friends because of having to “take your teeth out at night” while you’re there? Is it embarrassing to remove your dentures before bedtime in front of your spouse? If so, you’re not the only one that feels that way. Having missing teeth can cause self-consciousness even if you’re with your closest family members and friends.
With dental implants, you get to enjoy the confidence and convenience of a permanently affixed set of teeth. Nothing is coming in and out, so you can go to bed without a set of dentures sitting on your nightstand. Traveling is easier and you’ll be able to focus on what’s really important: having a great time with your loved ones.
Not Just Your Appearance, But Your Lifestyle
Another way dental implants change how you look isn’t physical, but more related to the activities you tend to keep up with. Like dining out with friends, enjoying foods that have a firmer texture (like steak or corn on the cob), and how small you have to cut up your meals. When you’re free to eat whatever you want, suddenly your day-to-day schedule opens up for more dinner dates, lunch meetings, and other social activities.
And while we’re on the topic, even your speech patterns can benefit. Unlike larger removable dentures that are difficult to talk with, hybrid implant designs feel more natural and shaped to your mouth. When you speak on the phone or in a group of other people, you’ll be able to articulate words more clearly and won’t have to work as hard to form certain sounds.
ARCHPOINT Dental Implants
Dental implants can give you back the confidence you need and the healthy smile you deserve. At ARCHPOINT our implant specialists work with each individual patient to customize a smile plan that works for their specific mouth and lifestyle.
It’s time to put your best face forward. Discover which implant treatment is right for you. Contact ARCHPOINT Implant Dentistry in Dallas or Ft. Worth today to reserve a consultation.
