The University of Iowa College of Dentistry , in collaboration with the Virtual Hospital. Implants are very durable and will last many years. Dental implants can help restore almost anyone's smile even if natural teeth have been lost to injury or disease. The most common reason people consider implants is because a sliding lower denture makes chewing and talking difficult.
Implants can also replace individual teeth and partial bridges in the upper and lower jaws.
The majority of patients treated with dental implants experience a significant improvement in their ability to chew food and feel more comfortable. Dental implants are permanent fixtures of titanium posts anchored to the jawbone and topped with individual replacement teeth or a bridge that screws or cements into the posts. Implant technology and materials used today in the United States were developed more than 30 years ago in Sweden. Nearly everyone who can have routine dental care can successfully use implants. Many people who consider implants have removable, conventional dentures for lower and upper jaws, or have removable bridges that clasp to adjacent teeth.