The more missing teeth you have, the worse your oral health will become. Missing one tooth is one thing but missing multiple teeth can have major implications for your oral and overall health moving forward. If you don’t want to have to deal with potentially higher bills due to needing extensive procedures to resolve dental concerns, it’s better to start multiple tooth replacement in Chesterton today while you still have time. Our dentists will work with you directly to determine your needs, find the best restorative treatment for you, and partner you with an oral surgeon to complete the placement of the implants should you decide to pursue them. Call us today and we’ll help you get started!
What Options Can I Consider for Tooth Replacement?
When it comes time to think about tooth replacement, you have a few options to consider. This includes traditional dental bridges and implant-retained bridges, both of which accomplish similar goals.
If you want your tooth replacement to be as affordable as possible, it’s hard to recommend anything other than a dental bridge. In most cases, you can replace two to four consecutive teeth with a single restoration. This restores your smile, but it does so at a price. This includes minimal removal of existing tooth enamel adjacent to the gap in your mouth. In order for a bridge to remain stable in the long-term, nearby teeth need to act as anchors for the permanent restoration.
Alternatively, implant-retained bridges do not rely on existing tooth enamel whatsoever to stay in place. Instead, they use titanium implants that integrate with existing bone tissue. If you’re willing to pay a bit more or you simply cannot have any tooth enamel removed to replaced teeth, implant-retained bridges are an exceptional improvement over the more traditional option.
Which Treatment Option is Best for My Needs?
We want to do everything possible to make it easy to know which tooth replacement option is the right one for you. That’s why it’s important to complete an in-person consultation with our dentists Dr. Hayes and Dr. Zhang. During this meeting, you’ll be able to discuss the most important factors you’ll need to consider, including:
- Cost of treatment
- The number of teeth you need to replace
- How long you want the restoration to last
- Your current jawbone health and strength
How Does Replacing Multiple Teeth Affect Cost?
The more teeth you need to have replaced, the more expensive your overall treatment will be, but not for the reason you’d think. Keep in mind that you don’t need to have a dedicated dental implant for each tooth you need to have replaced as dental bridges can often be held with just a pair of dental implants. This means even if you need to replace as many as four teeth, you will likely need just two implants to get it done.
With that said, the restoration you choose is far more likely to dramatically increase your total costs. Even if dental bridges cost less up front, they do require more frequent replacement compared to dental implants, which cost more but last much longer. This is why dentists often consider dental implants to be a cost-effective, long-term investment, especially when replacing multiple teeth.
