10/08/2017
The advantage of saving a tooth:
While not always so significant, there are some reasons why retaining a natural tooth has advantages over implant placement.
A study of patients by Gatten (2011) reported that some people who receive implants state that their artificial tooth "feels different" than their natural ones, although growing accustom to this difference over time seems to be the norm.
At least a part of the above effect has to do with the fact that the ligament that binds a tooth in its socket provides sensory feedback. And beyond just how an individual tooth might feel, this feedback also helps you to control your jaw's movements (direction, speed, amount of force) and helps you to prevent problems such as overloading your jaw joint.
We won't pretend that this is a big issue when just a single tooth has been replaced. But if enough teeth have been sacrificed, this loss of sensation might become significant.
Implants osseointegrate (fuse) with the jawbone, which means that future orthodontic movement of that tooth (i.e. having braces) is not possible.
There can be negative psychological effects associated with tooth loss. Generally speaking, people tend to prefer the idea of keeping their natural dentition (teeth).
