If you're missing one tooth or more, you may find that there are other things you miss. You may miss your natural smile. You may miss the ability to chew apples, crackers and other food you desire. Maybe you feel self-conscious about your teeth and mouth, or discomfort as the remaining teeth shift. And perhaps you've experienced muscle strains, an inability to speak clearly, headaches or unease in familiar situations at work, with friends or at home. Naturally, the effect of tooth loss varies from person to person and depends on what exactly has been lost. If you've lost the crown, you've lost the visible part of your tooth.

But if you've lost the root as well, you've lost the unseen part of your tooth. The root anchors the tooth in your jawbone, providing stable support for the crown. Without the root, the bone around the lost tooth may gradually recede, the remaining teeth may shift and chewing may become more difficult with time.

You can choose from a number of ways to replace your tooth crowns. But if you're interested in replacing your entire tooth - crown and root - your only option is dental implants.

Replacement of a single tooth

If you are missing a single tooth, you can replace it without having healthy neighboring teeth ground down to support a bridge. Dental implant systems replace both the lost natural tooth and its root.

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Replacement of several teeth

If you have lost several teeth, replacing them with dental implants is an excellent alternative because your replacement teeth are not dependent on support from adjacent teeth, as is the case with bridges and partials.

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Replacement of a full Upper or Lower jaw

If you have lost all of the teeth in one of your jaws, a full denture may work for the short term. But without tooth roots, the jawbone slowly melts or shrinks, causing the denture to lose its snug fit. This leads to potential discomfort. A loss of jawbone can also change the shape of your face.

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Dental implants, fused to the jawbone, keep the bone healthy and your teeth securely in place. Once implants have been placed in an arch, crowns can be restored with fixed bridgework or over-dentures. A fixed bridge is permanently secured to the implants while removable over-dentures are held in place by a bar and clip or one of many attachments currently available.