I’m Having a Hard Time Chewing

Are you having a hard time chewing your food? Let our Virginia Beach dentist help you with dental implants!

Dental pain, alignment issues, or missing teeth can interrupt one of most important activities you’ll do in your life: eating. If nothing else, keeping your teeth in your mouth or replacing missing teeth means enjoying the food you love and getting the nutrition you need.

Do you struggle with missing teeth or loathe your slippery dentures? Have you had to drastically change your diet because of dental problems? There are ways to restore your smile and your ability to eat the food you want.

Losing your teeth is a serious dental problem that affects your overall health. Patients can lose teeth because of severe tooth decay, gum disease – the leading cause of adult tooth loss – or trauma. It’s possible to save teeth that have been knocked out, as you can learn on our dental emergency page, but it’s also possible to replace missing teeth with natural and lifelike restorations.

If you’re tired of mashing up your food or avoiding treats like a juicy steak or crunchy apple, consider these facts about missing teeth and options for replacing your permanent teeth.

The Hard Facts About Missing Teeth And Restorations

  • There are about 30 millions Americans who are missing at least one of their permanent teeth.
  • About 4 percent of Americans between the ages of 20 and 64 have no remaining teeth.
  • Patients living without any of their teeth live an average of 10 years less than those with teeth.
  • Restorations like removable dentures have an average of 25 percent of the biting force of natural teeth.
  • Dental implants, used to replace missing teeth, provide about 90 percent of the biting force of natural teeth.
  • Dental implants can be placed with a more than 98 percent success rate.

Restore Your Mouth With Durable Dental Implants

Dental implants, which are made from titanium, can be restored with single restorations or full-arch restorations. At J. Wesley Anderson, Jr., DDS, we work with a periodontist to place dental implants. After the implants heal, we’ll restore the implants with lifelike restorations that can withstand massive biting force.

Dental implants naturally fuse to the bone, meaning over time, the implant literally becomes part of your body. It’s as though someone slipped a new root under the gum that can support new teeth. There are many options for replacing missing teeth, but the dental implant is the only one that preserves the jawbone. When you lose teeth, the jawbone begins to recede. As the jawbone changes shape, so does the structure of the face. These constant changes are the main reasons people with removable dentures have problems stabilizing their oral appliances. People wearing removable dentures also lose the vertical height between their nose and chin and often look much older than they are.

Don’t Settle For Bad Dentures Any Longer

If you have missing teeth, you can restore your smile with dental implants or standard dentures. You can live a fulfilled life with removable dentures if you keep the restorations realigned and properly fitted. Because the jawbone and gums are constantly changing when the teeth are lost, the only way to maintain a snug denture fit is to continue visiting our office for regular cleanings and checkups. Our office places immediate dentures for patients who need some or all of their teeth extracted. That way you can leave the oral surgeon after your extractions with a set of teeth that are durable and look great!

Some patients are happy with their dentures, and that’s fine, but others want to throw away their dentures once and for all. We can’t blame them. For those patients, we provide a great option known as All-on-4 dental implants. These implants are strategically placed in the mouth to support full arches of permanent teeth that cannot be removed by anyone but our dental team. The All-on-4 dental implants are so special because they leave the upper palate open, allowing you to experience hot and cold sensations and better taste your food. Better yet, there are no food restrictions or chewing restrictions. You’ll be eating food just like you did before you lost your natural teeth – and you’ll look and feel great.

Our goal is to work with you to determine what’s best for your oral health. We have the treatments in our office to resolve hard time chewing issues for good. Call Virginia Beach dentist office today at (757) 464-1964 or use our online form to schedule your first appointment.