Dental Implants – Your ‘Passport’ To Easier Eating
If you struggle to eat with dentures, this popular tooth replacement method could be right for you.
Initially, we were going to title this blog ‘foods to avoid with dental implants’ but then we realised that this would basically consist of a blank page! The fact is that dental implants have revolutionised eating for many people who previously wore dentures. They may also be of benefit to any of our Ipswich patients who have been living with a weakened tooth which they don’t feel confident biting down with.
In today’s blog then, we will take a look at why dentures can cause problems when eating and how implants offer more freedom when choosing your food. We will also offer a reminder of what the treatment entails and how, for many, it’s proved to be a life-enhancing experience.
The ‘problem’ with dentures
It is true that many people with dentures do eat with reasonable ease. This isn’t always the case though and some people find eating with them quite challenging. It is likely that those that eat reasonably comfortably with them have adapted their diet to foods that are not too tricky to eat, such as softer foods. Chewier foods such as steaks or even crunchy foods such as raw celery, can be a real issue to denture wearers who may avoid them for this reason.
The problem is that not only do dentures sometimes move around in the mouth, making them unstable, but this can cause significant soreness as the dentures rub against the gums. Small pieces of food can also get trapped between the dentures and the gum, causing further discomfort.
When eating out with friends, and especially if they have cooked the meal, you might find yourself in the difficult position of having to refuse food or putting up with the discomfort and difficulty of eating it.
Dental implants and eating
Compare the experience of many denture wearers to those who have had teeth implants placed at the Foxhall Dental Practice Ipswich. Simply put, none of the above applies. Once an implant is fully integrated into the mouth, it will perform exactly the same function as a natural healthy tooth. This means that whether you want to thoroughly chew a piece of steak or bite down onto something crunchy like celery or an apple, you can do so. These, and other foods, present no problems at all to a healthy implant.
There will also be no cause for social embarrassment either as dental implants will not move around as dentures sometimes do. This means no soreness or discomfort when you eat.
How do they work?
Dentures replace only the crown section of a tooth and are held in place by a denture adhesive, clips or just suction between the dentures and the gum. It is probably not surprising then that they can be unstable at times. Implants, on the other hand, also replace the root of a tooth which is placed into the jawbone and allowed to fuse with the bone before a crown is attached (via an abutment) to complete the tooth replacement. It is the bonding of implant and bone then, that makes this a very strong and stable tooth replacement option.
Nutrition and digestion
Restricting your diet can not only spoil your enjoyment of eating, but can also affect other aspects of your life. Nutrition is very important at all ages and especially when we grow older; an age when more teeth are likely to have been lost. Poor nutrition at this age could cause us to become ill or to recover more slowly from any medical conditions that we might have. This might be even more the case if you already have a restricted diet for ethical reasons such as being a vegetarian or vegan. In both of these cases, a balanced diet is essential, but also more difficult to obtain if you choose to eat only softer foods.
Even if you get the required nutrition, denture wearers are perhaps more likely to suffer from digestion issues. The fact is that when we eat, the digestion process begins in the mouth and not the stomach. Chewing our food well helps to break it down and allows more time for the enzymes that start the digestive process to begin working. In the case of denture wearers, where food is more difficult to chew, it is likely that larger pieces of food are swallowed which creates a bigger workload for our intestines and stomach. This is a fairly common reason for bloating and indigestion. If you suffer from this, it might be that your discomfort is not caused by a food allergy, as we often tend to think, but by not chewing our food properly in the first place. Try spending a little more time chewing your food. You may find this reduces the problem.
While it is true that dental implants require a small surgical procedure where dentures often don’t, those who have had them usually find a great improvement in their ability to eat and to enjoy food and conversation without restrictions and without the frustration and embarrassment that loose and unstable dentures can bring.
If you live in the Ipswich region of Suffolk and would like to find out more about this increasingly popular tooth replacement system, why not get in touch with the Foxhall Dental Practice to arrange a consultation with one of our implant dentists? You can do this by calling us on 01473 258396 and we’ll be pleased to assist.