9542 - 18th St (corner of 1st St and 21st Ave) Princeton MN 55371 Office:  763-389-3045 Fax:  763-389-9117 e-mail:  drjaneoffice@nsatel.net Dental Implants Tooth Loss (Tooth Replacement) Question:  What happens when teeth are lost?   Answer:  The remaining teeth shift into the space.   This make chewing difficult, gum disease and cavities more likely to start, and bone starts to shrink away and your face sinks in, often making you feel older than you are. Over 50 million Americans are missing one or more natural teeth, enduring inconvenience, discomfort, and embarrassment.  There is an alternative!    International Congress of Oral Implantologists Are You a Candidate for Dental Implants? How you feel about yourself affects your relationships, your confidence, and your overall well-being.  Making the decision for dental implants may be revealed in your answers to the following questions:          •  Are you embarrassed by the appearance of your teeth when you smile?          •  Do you have retained primary teeth or teeth that have been missing since birth?          •  Have you lost one or more teeth?          •  Are you satisfied with the condition of your teeth?          •  Do you experience discomfort or inconvenience due to removable partials or dentures?          •  If you wear removable dentures, do you find that you have a tendency to gag?          •  Are you satisfied with your ability to eat?          •  Do you suffer from pain related to your teeth?          •  Do you overcook foods to facilitate chewing?          •  Do you have teeth that appear to be loosening? Dental implants recreate the stability and function of natural teeth.  They can replace one, several, or a full-mouth of teeth. Do you feel that tooth loss has affected your appearance, food choices, personal life, physical comfort, professional life, self-confidence, enjoyment of food, or oral health?  Given the opportunity, what would you improve about your speech, appearance, comfort, chewing, or taste? Dental implants restore your ability to eat the foods you love, laugh and speak with confidence, and awake each day with a smile! MOST FREQENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT DENTAL IMPLANTS:          •  Who can benefit from implants?              No matter who the patient, implants can help.  Health, rather than age, is usually the determining factor for prospective patients.  Implant patients may be young adults with congenitally missing teeth and premature tooth loss, accident victims, long-term denture users, or adults who suffer the embarrassment and inconvenience caused by removable teeth.          •  Are dental implants a new procedure?              No; quite the contrary.  The implants we use today have been developed and perfected within the past 20 years.  many implant procedures have become routine to experienced implant dentists.          •  Are implants successful?              Some patients have had their implants for as many as 30 years.  the expected longevity of an implant is often equal to or greater than restorations on natural teeth.  How long an implant remains depends on the general state of health, habits, and commitment to follow-up, professional and home care.  Implants fail for the same reason as natural teeth:  poor oral hygiene.    All rights reserved © JANE E. ODGERS, D.D.S.