Until fairly recently, traditional dentures and bridges were the only options for replacing missing teeth. Some people can’t comfortably wear dentures, they can be painful, they don’t remain in place and they can cause embarrassing clicking noises when you eat, speak or laugh. Traditional bridges can cause the bone in that area to recede, possibly destabilizing the adjacent teeth, and increasing the risk of periodontal disease to those teeth. A dental implant has none of these disadvantages. Improved techniques and advances in the materials used for implants have made the permanent dental implant a better alternative for many people.