It’s unfortunate but true: when you lose a tooth, you lose the bone that was supporting it. This happens because your body assumes it doesn’t need the bone there anymore, and so it dissolves away the bone structure so it can use the calcium elsewhere.

This means your false teeth will need several refittings over the first few months as your jaw structure adjusts, and it also means that eventually there won’t be enough bone left to support a regular dental implant. That’s why it’s important to decide whether to get dental implants on Long Island as soon as the old tooth is gone.

But if you can’t get dental implants on Long Island or elsewhere for some reason, or if you didn’t have the opportunity at the time, it’s not too late to get an implant. Even if a bone graft seems too extreme or too expensive, a set of mini dental implants can fit in a jaw even if it’s been years since your natural teeth came out. They’re also easier on your body, so you can make use of them immediately rather than waiting several weeks for the bone to set and the gums to heal.

And while mini implants are too small to hold a regular implant crown, they’re perfect for holding dentures on more securely than any dental adhesive. Unlike those adhesives, implants don’t have to break down over time so you can remove your dentures at night.

And what’s better, any dentist’s office with a dental lab can modify your existing dentures to make them fit your mini implants so you don’t have to get used to a new set. The way mini implants work is by placing a metal ball on the end and having it fit into a socket with a stiff rubber ring, so adding that socket isn’t much of a hassle.

So while getting mini dental implants on Long Island isn’t a completely perfect alternative to regular implants, it does offer a way to secure your dentures whether they’re partial or full. And if you already have dentures, getting mini implants is a low-cost way to improve them and help make sure you can use them to eat the same sorts of things that you could eat when your teeth were all natural. The implants can take some getting used to, but it won’t be long before you realize just how much they can help.