As you become older, the value of good dental care becomes more important. Older adults are more prone to a range of oral health problems, including periodontal disease, root decay and darkened teeth. These problems make it more likely that they will lose their teeth. In addition, they may cause a range of other health problems such as heart disease and pneumonia, which have been linked to poor oral health.

According to the CDC, gum disease becomes more severe with age, increasing the likelihood that seniors aged 65 and up will lose their teeth as their attachment to the adjoining gum tissue is weakened. Periodontal disease is a particular concern for older adults if they have not maintained a good oral hygiene routine, since plaque has been building up on teeth for years. But starting and maintaining a good oral hygiene routine can greatly improve dental health no matter what age you are.

When you have missing teeth, it makes you self-conscious since you do not want to smile, lest people see your mouth. Missing teeth do not only affect your appearance, but also makes it more difficult for you to eat. Thus, you can eat only softer foods, and can no longer handle many of the foods you enjoyed when you were younger. But older adults tend to neglect their teeth, either because they feel that tooth loss is an inevitable part of aging, or they think that there is nothing a dentist can do anyway.

However, cosmetic dentists can actually do a lot to restore missing teeth, and give older people their smile back. You no longer have to settle for dentures, since dental implants can give you teeth that are firmly fixed into place, providing a permanent long-term solution. This solves many of the issues seniors have about dentures, namely that they do not fit properly, and they make it hard to chew.

As an alternative to dentures, the cosmetic dentist can replace all of your upper or lower teeth using just four implants. Using this procedure, it is possible to replace all of the affected teeth in just one day, and even on the same day that your teeth are extracted. This reduces the discomfort for the patient, as well as making the cost of replacements more affordable.

Since the artificial teeth are fixed in place, you can eat whatever you want without the risk of displacing the dentures. You also generally do not need to have a bone graft done to replace thinning jawbones, since the replacement is done with mini-implants that require less bone to be attached to.

No matter what age you are, you can benefit from cosmetic dentistry. And high-quality dental care is readily available since cosmetic dentists now have practices everywhere, even in rural areas.