Ten percent of American adults consider themselves to be in recovery from addiction. Recovering from substance abuse is one of the toughest struggles a person can face. After all of your hard work, you may notice your mouth has lingering forms of decay. Pursuing dental implants can help restore your smile to its previous glory and help to restore your oral health.

What Substance Abuse Does To Your Mouth

Drug addiction can expose your mouth to many harmful substances, including battery acid. So you may not think one of the worst things that can happen is extreme dry mouth. Your saliva is critical to the health of your gums as it prevents bacteria from taking hold. The longer this dry mouth continues, the more likely your gums will become infected, swollen and uncomfortable.

Over time, your gums' health will worsen with advanced periodontal disease, and this can lead to tooth loss.    

What Can Implants Do For Me?

If substance abuse has caused you to lose teeth, dental implants can help you.  

As someone recovering from addiction getting dental implants can help in more ways than just giving you a new set of teeth. Implants boost your self-esteem by giving you a visual anchor to support your new behaviors.

Getting implants also improves your overall oral health by giving your jaw bone something to hang on to. Bones decay over time without stimulation, and your teeth provide stimulation to your jaw bone. Dental implants can work to fulfill the role of jaw bone stimulation helping to prevent or slow bone loss.

How Getting Dental Implants Works

If you and your dentist decide implants are right for you, you will undergo a series of appointments. Starting with an initial consultation, your dentist will thoroughly map out your mouth to ensure the implants are placed properly.

In the following appointments, your dentist will surgically embed the implant into your jaw, this functions as an anchor for your prosthetic tooth. At a later appointment, a post will be inserted called an abutment. After your gum tissue is allowed to heal, the prosthetic tooth can be placed on top of the abutment, completing the implant procedure.

Getting dental implants is a big step in your recovery and an investment in your future oral health. If you're considering dental implants, schedule an appointment with your dentist. Your dentist can help guide you through the dental implant process, and determine if they're right for you. Check out websites like http://www.vernonhillsdentist.com for more information.

Share