When you think of a professional athlete or child athlete getting hurt, your mind probably goes directly to broken bones and bruises. But, sports injuries can also involve the mouth and result in missing teeth. Once your adult teeth come in, you don’t want missing teeth. When your smile is not at its best, it can impact your self-confidence as well as everyday functions like speaking and eating. Let’s take a look at sports injuries that involve the mouth and options to repair missing teeth Rochester NY.
How Common Do Sports Injuries Involve the Mouth & Teeth?
The U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health reports that basketball, football, hockey, martial arts, and boxing all carry the highest risk of injuries involving the mouth. These injuries can occur from bodily contact or getting hit with a ball in the mouth.
While wearing a mouthguard can help to prevent these types of injuries from happening, it’s too little too late for those who are injured and now dealing with a missing tooth or missing teeth.
How to Help With Missing Teeth Rochester NY
The most common way to replace missing teeth is with dental implants. A dental implant can replace one tooth or multiple teeth. Dental implants are popular because they look, feel, and function like natural teeth. If taken care of properly, dental implants can last a lifetime.
Dental implants begin with titanium posts that are surgically placed into the jawbone to support replacement teeth. Once the post integrates into the bone, an abutment and a custom-fit crown are placed as your new tooth.
It’s important to know that dental implants are typically not a one-day procedure. Once the posts are implanted, the mouth must heal. The bone needs time to integrate (regrow) around the post to keep it in place and support it, much like it does for a healthy tooth root.
Some patients need as long as several months for their mouth to heal before the replacement teeth can be put in place. For others, the recovery time is shorter. A temporary replacement tooth can sometimes be placed to cover the posts during this time.
Benefits of Dental Implants to Repair Missing Teeth
Besides being the most natural-looking option to replace missing teeth, there are other advantages to getting dental implants:
- Dental implants, when cared for properly, don’t involve or compromise the health of neighboring teeth.
- Dental implants help the entire mouth to function better by taking the stress off of neighboring teeth.
- Dental implants help to preserve the bone better because they essentially replace the tooth root in the bone.
Since dental implants do require surgery, they may not be for everyone. When you meet with Dr. Zahavi, Rochester NY periodontist, he will examine you and let you know whether you’re a candidate for dental implants.
Schedule a Consultation for Missing Teeth Rochester NY
If you or a loved one has had a sports injury that has resulted in missing teeth, Dr. Zahavi at Dental Implants & Periodontal Health of Rochester can help.
During a consultation, he will examine you and let you know if you’re a viable candidate for dental implants. Dr. Zahavi uses 3-D CAT scan technology to diagnose and to precisely place implants and gives patients the best outcome possible.
Dr. Zahavi has helped countless patients improve the appearance and function of their teeth with dental implants. To learn more, call Dental Implants & Periodontal Health of Rochester at 585-685-2005 today.
