Dental implants are an attractive way to restore gaps in your smile caused by missing teeth. They also make speaking and eating easier and more convenient. Dental implants are a nice way to improve your quality of life and your self-esteem.
Another benefit of dental implants is how they help preserve your dental health. Unlike other restorations, dental implants counteract jawbone depletion. Dental implants also help protect you from gum disease. This is essential because gum disease can result in the loss of additional teeth.
Healthy Smiles and Healthy Bodies
Your oral health is directly linked to the health of your entire body. Any factor that damages your health, particularly your immune system, will have a negative effect on the health of your smile because it increases your risk of contracting dental diseases such as decay and gum disease.
You can help protect your immune system by getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, and eating a balanced diet that’s rich in vitamins and other nutrients. But it’s also important to protect your overall health by preventing dental diseases. Dental health is a key indicator of a patient’s overall health. In fact, the more teeth a patient is missing, the more likely they are to have additional health issues.
Tooth Loss Contributes to Gum Disease
In a healthy smile, each tooth serves as a placeholder, preventing other teeth from shifting around. But if you lose even one tooth, it damages the overall integrity of your smile. This causes two factors that can contribute to gum disease. First, your gums become irritated as your remaining teeth move out of place.
The second way missing teeth contribute to gum disease is by creating spaces where plaque can grow. The bacteria that cause gum disease survives by eating plaque. Dental implants help prevent gum disease by filling these gaps and preventing your remaining natural teeth from shifting around.
How Gum Disease Affects the Rest of Your Body
In addition to damaging your smile, gum disease is a major threat to your overall health. That’s because the bacteria that cause gum disease can spread throughout your body.
Gum disease causes swelling of the arteries in your mouth, and we now know that this allows bacteria to spread. Research links the bacteria caused by gum disease to a number of serious health issues, including strokes, heart disease, osteoporosis, premature childbirth, Alzheimer’s Disease, and diabetes. It’s crucial to fight gum disease by visiting Dr. Chow for regular checkups and taking care of your smile by brushing and flossing every day.