If your dentist has suggested a dental implant following an extraction, you may feel that the implant is unnecessary, especially if the extracted tooth is located near the back of your mouth. After all, why should replace a tooth that was rarely seen anyway?

Dental implants offer multiple benefits that can impact your remaining teeth. Here are a few of them:

Avoiding Braces

After an extraction, your teeth are more vulnerable to dental migration. The teeth in your mouth are usually set close enough together that they serve as placeholders for one another. However, when one tooth is lost or extracted, a new space is left in the mouth. Adjacent teeth may begin to shift due to the increase in available space.

A dental implant can be installed to fill the space left by the missing tooth. The implant is surgically inserted into the jawbone. It not not only fills the space left by the missing dental root, but it also fills the space left by the missing crown.

After an implant has been placed inside the jawbone of the patient, it usually requires a period of a few months to heal. During that time, the bone cells of the jawbone connect with the dental implant screw. This allows the screw to become secured properly inside the bone. After the screw has healed adequately, a connector is attached so that a dental crown can be affixed. Once a dental crown is in place, the entire tooth has been restored. 

Preservation of the Jawbone

The density of the jawbone may decline over time. The bone requires an adequate amount of stimulation to continue to produce bone cells that help maintain jawbone density. The stimulation is received each time the patient masticates. As the bite pressure is transferred to the jawbone, stimulation occurs.

No stimulation is available if a tooth is missing. The extraction site of the tooth may cause the bone in that area to diminish. If this occurs, adjacent teeth may become loose in their sockets due to the decline in bone density.

Since a dental implant is actually inserted into the bone, once it is in place, the jawbone continues to receive the same type of stimulation that it did before the missing tooth was lost or extracted.

If you have lost a tooth and would like to learn more ways that a dental implant can benefit you, contact a dentist in your area.