Dental implants have transformed the way we replace missing teeth. When properly planned and maintained, they can provide excellent stability, restore comfortable function, support natural-looking restorations, and replace a missing tooth without requiring neighboring teeth to support a traditional bridge.

I have seen dental implants make an enormous difference in my patients’ lives. But I also think we do patients a disservice when we talk about dental implants as though they are perfect.

They aren’t.

Dental implants involve surgery. They require adequate bone and healthy surrounding tissues. They take time to heal. They can develop complications. They require lifelong maintenance. And although they can have excellent long-term survival, no responsible dentist should promise that an implant will last forever.

Perhaps most importantly, a dental implant is not inherently better than a healthy, maintainable natural tooth.

“I place a high value on dental implants, but I don’t consider them a replacement for healthy natural teeth. When a natural tooth can be predictably maintained, preserving it deserves serious consideration.”

— Marielaina Perrone, DDS

If you’re considering dental implants in Henderson, Las Vegas, or elsewhere in the Las Vegas Valley, I want you to understand both sides of the decision.

Rather than looking at this as a simple list of dental implant pros and cons, let’s look at what you may gain and what you need to accept in return.

You Gain: An Independent Replacement for a Missing Tooth

One of the most important advantages of a dental implant is independence.

A traditional dental bridge generally relies upon neighboring teeth for support. Those teeth typically need to be prepared for crowns so they can support the replacement tooth between them.

A single dental implant works differently. The implant is placed in the jaw and supports its own restoration. When the teeth on either side of a missing tooth are healthy, this can be a significant advantage because we may be able to leave them alone. That can help preserve healthy natural tooth structure.

What You Accept: Implant Placement Is a Surgical Procedure

That independence comes with a trade-off. Placing a dental implant requires a surgical procedure.

For most appropriately selected patients, implant surgery can be performed comfortably, but it still involves healing and biological response. As with any surgical procedure, there are potential risks and complications. Depending upon the location of the missing tooth, we also need to consider nearby anatomy, available bone, gum tissue, and other clinical factors.

An implant should never be treated as simply a hole that needs a screw.

You Gain: Excellent Stability and Function

For many patients, one of the most noticeable benefits of implant dentistry isn’t what they see in the mirror. It’s what happens at dinner.

A well-planned implant-supported tooth can provide excellent stability during chewing. For patients transitioning from removable tooth replacement, implant-supported treatment may provide an especially meaningful improvement in comfort and confidence.

The goal is to help patients return to eating, speaking, smiling, and living without constantly thinking about the missing tooth.

“One of the best compliments I can hear after implant treatment is, ‘I don’t really think about it anymore.’ When a patient can simply eat and smile comfortably, the dentistry has become part of their life rather than the focus of it.”

— Marielaina Perrone, DDS

What You Accept: An Implant Is Not a Natural Tooth

This distinction matters. Dental implants can function remarkably well, but they do not have exactly the same biological relationship with the surrounding tissues as natural teeth. A natural tooth is suspended within the jaw through a periodontal ligament. An osseointegrated implant interfaces directly with bone.

That means implants and natural teeth do not behave identically.

This doesn’t make implants inferior. It simply means we shouldn’t describe them as though we’ve recreated nature perfectly.

We haven’t.

You Gain: Support for the Bone at the Implant Site

After a tooth is lost, the surrounding jawbone can change because it no longer receives the same functional stimulation associated with the tooth. An osseointegrated implant transfers functional forces into the surrounding bone and can help maintain bone at the implant site.

This is one reason implants can offer an important advantage over some other tooth-replacement approaches.

What You Accept: Existing Bone Loss Doesn’t Disappear

An implant cannot simply reverse all of the bone changes that occurred before treatment. If a tooth has been missing for a long time, periodontal disease has damaged supporting bone, or the anatomy is unfavorable, there may not be enough bone for ideal implant placement.

Some patients therefore require bone grafting or other site-development procedures.

In the upper back jaw, sinus anatomy may also influence treatment planning. This can increase treatment time, complexity, and cost.

You Gain: The Potential for a Very Natural-Looking Tooth

The visible portion of implant treatment is not actually the implant. It’s the restoration attached to it.

With careful planning, an implant crown can be designed to blend beautifully with neighboring teeth in color, shape, proportion, texture, and translucency. But the aesthetic result depends upon much more than choosing a pretty crown.

Implant position, bone, gum architecture, tissue thickness, neighboring teeth, smile line, and restorative design can all influence the final appearance.

What You Accept: Front-Tooth Implants Can Be Aesthetically Challenging

Replacing a front tooth can be one of the most demanding situations in implant dentistry. The implant may be hidden beneath the restoration, but the gum tissue surrounding it is visible. That is why I believe the final tooth should be considered before deciding exactly where an implant belongs.

Implant dentistry should be restoration-driven.

We aren’t simply trying to place an implant into available bone.

We’re trying to create a tooth that looks appropriate, functions correctly, can be cleaned, and integrates naturally into the patient’s smile.

You Gain: Strong Long-Term Survival

Dental implants have an extensive clinical history and can demonstrate excellent long-term survival when appropriately selected, placed, restored, and maintained. That makes them one of the most predictable tools available for replacing missing teeth. But there is an important difference between saying:

“Dental implants can have excellent long-term survival.”

and:

“Dental implants last forever.”

What You Accept: There Is No Lifetime Guarantee

I don’t describe dental implants as permanent teeth. An implant can experience biological or mechanical complications.

Problems can involve the surrounding tissues, bone, restoration, screws, components, bite, or other aspects of the implant system.

Even if the implant itself remains healthy and integrated, the crown or other restoration it supports may eventually need repair or replacement. Long-lasting does not mean maintenance-free.

You Gain: Freedom From Some Limitations of Removable Dentures

Implants can also be used to support more than one missing tooth. For patients who have lost many or all of their teeth, implant-supported treatment can provide alternatives to conventional removable dentures.

Depending upon the patient’s anatomy, health, needs, and goals, implants may support a removable overdenture or a fixed full-arch restoration. For someone struggling with denture movement or chewing limitations, the improvement can be significant.

What You Accept: More Complex Treatment Requires More Complex Maintenance

A full-arch implant restoration is not simply a set of “new permanent teeth.”

It is a sophisticated prosthesis supported by implants.

It still requires cleaning.

It still requires professional evaluation.

Components can wear.

Restorative materials can chip or fracture.

Bite relationships can change. And access beneath certain restorations may require specific home-care techniques.

Patients considering All-on-4, All-on-6, or other full-arch implant treatments should understand the maintenance commitment before treatment begins.

You Gain: Protection for Neighboring Teeth, Sometimes

One of the most frequently mentioned benefits of a single dental implant is avoiding preparation of neighboring teeth for a conventional bridge.

When those teeth are untouched and healthy, that’s a compelling advantage. But this illustrates why dental treatment should never be reduced to slogans.

What You Accept: Sometimes a Bridge May Still Make Sense

Imagine that the teeth on either side of the missing space already have very large restorations and both require crowns. Suddenly, the comparison becomes different. A bridge might deserve consideration.

Likewise, medical factors, anatomy, finances, treatment time, patient preference, or the prognosis of surrounding teeth may influence the decision.

Dental implants aren’t automatically the right answer simply because an implant can be placed.

The best treatment is the one that makes sense for that particular patient.

Dental Implants Can Develop Gum and Bone Problems

This is one of the most important limitations to understand. Implants cannot develop tooth decay because there is no natural tooth structure to decay. But that does not mean implants are immune to disease.

Inflammatory conditions can affect the tissues surrounding dental implants. In more advanced situations, inflammation can be associated with loss of supporting bone.

Patients with a history of periodontal disease deserve particular attention because the health of the entire mouth matters when planning and maintaining implants.

Excellent plaque control, regular professional care, and ongoing evaluation remain essential.

“The implant may be titanium, but the tissues supporting it are biological. You still have to take care of the bone and gums that make implant treatment possible.”

— Marielaina Perrone, DDS

What About Dental Implant Cost?

Another disadvantage is obvious: dental implant treatment can represent a substantial financial investment. The total cost depends upon what the patient actually needs.

Treatment may include:

• Extraction
• Bone grafting
• Diagnostic imaging
• Implant placement
• Temporary restoration
• Abutment or restorative components
• Final implant crown or prosthesis
• Additional procedures when clinically necessary

This is why comparing implant prices without comparing treatment plans can be misleading. A lower advertised number may not necessarily represent the same diagnosis, materials, restorative plan, or included services.

I encourage patients to understand what is included, why it is necessary, and what the long-term plan will be.

Sometimes the Best Implant Is the One I Don’t Place

This may sound strange coming from a dentist who provides implant dentistry, but it’s an important part of my treatment philosophy. Just because we can place an implant doesn’t mean we should.

If a natural tooth can reasonably be maintained, preserving it may be the more conservative decision.

If active periodontal disease needs treatment first, we should address it.

If bone or anatomy makes implant treatment unusually compromised, we should discuss that.

If a patient’s health makes elective surgery inappropriate, that matters.

If expectations cannot realistically be achieved, we need to talk about them before treatment.

And if another restorative option makes more sense, the patient deserves to hear about it.

Good implant dentistry includes knowing when not to place an implant.

Who Is a Good Candidate for Dental Implants?

Age alone generally isn’t the question I find most useful. Instead, I evaluate the individual patient.

Important considerations can include:

• General health
• Oral hygiene
• Periodontal health
• Bone quantity and quality
• Smoking history
• Medications and medical conditions
• Bite forces and bruxism
• Condition of remaining teeth
• Ability to maintain the implant
• Expectations for treatment

Some risk factors can be addressed before implant treatment. Others may change how we plan treatment or whether an implant is appropriate at all.

This is why a dental implant consultation should involve much more than asking whether there is enough room for an implant.

The Question Isn’t “Are Dental Implants Good?”

Dental implants are good treatment. But that’s not the question I want my patients asking.

The better question is:

“Is a dental implant the right treatment for me?”

Those are very different questions.

A treatment can have an excellent scientific foundation and still be wrong for a particular tooth, patient, or situation. That is where diagnosis becomes more important than the procedure itself.

Dental Implants in Henderson and the Las Vegas Valley

At my Henderson, Nevada dental practice, I see patients from Green Valley, Anthem, Seven Hills, Las Vegas, Summerlin, and communities throughout the Las Vegas Valley who are considering dental implants for many different reasons.

Some are missing one tooth.

Others have several failing teeth.

Some are frustrated with removable dentures.

And some arrive convinced that every remaining tooth needs to be removed and replaced with implants.

My first job isn’t to sell them implant treatment. It’s to understand what is happening.

Why was the tooth lost?

Can another tooth be preserved?

Are the gums healthy?

What does the imaging show?

What does the bite look like?

Where does the final restoration need to be?

What alternatives exist?

And what does this patient want their dentistry to accomplish over the next decade or longer?

Only then does the implant itself become part of the conversation.

Dental Implants: What You Gain and What You Accept

Dental implants offer some extraordinary advantages. They can replace missing teeth independently, restore excellent function, support natural-looking restorations, help maintain bone at the implant site, and provide options for patients who struggle with removable tooth replacement. But choosing an implant also means accepting surgery, healing time, financial investment, potential complications, lifelong maintenance, and the reality that no implant is guaranteed forever.

That’s not an argument against dental implants.

It’s an argument for informed dental implant treatment.

“I don’t need my patients to believe dental implants are perfect. I want them to understand why I’m recommending one, what the alternatives are, and what we need to do together to give that treatment the best opportunity for long-term success.”

— Marielaina Perrone, DDS

When those pieces come together, dental implants can be an outstanding investment in comfort, function, confidence, and quality of life.

They just aren’t magic. And they don’t need to be.

Frequently Asked Questions About Dental Implant Pros and Cons

What is the biggest advantage of a dental implant?

For a single missing tooth, one major advantage is the ability to replace the tooth independently without necessarily preparing healthy neighboring teeth to support a conventional bridge. Implants can also provide excellent stability and function.

What is the biggest disadvantage of dental implants?

There isn’t one disadvantage that applies equally to everyone. Surgery, treatment time, cost, maintenance requirements, available bone, and the possibility of biological or mechanical complications should all be considered.

Are dental implants better than natural teeth?

No. A successful dental implant can be an excellent replacement for a tooth that is missing or cannot reasonably be maintained, but it does not reproduce every biological characteristic of a healthy natural tooth.

Are dental implants permanent?

Dental implants can provide excellent long-term service, but “permanent” can create unrealistic expectations. Implants, surrounding tissues, and implant-supported restorations require lifelong care and can develop complications.

Can dental implants get cavities?

The implant itself cannot develop a cavity. However, plaque and inflammation can affect the gum and bone surrounding an implant, making daily hygiene and professional maintenance essential.

Are dental implants worth the cost?

For an appropriate candidate, the function, independence, stability, aesthetics, and long-term tooth-replacement potential may make implant treatment worthwhile. The decision should be based on the individual’s diagnosis, alternatives, goals, health, and financial considerations rather than cost alone.

Is everyone a candidate for dental implants?

No. Candidacy depends upon oral and general health, bone, periodontal condition, anatomy, medications, risk factors, ability to maintain the implant, and other individual considerations. A clinical examination and appropriate imaging are necessary.

About Marielaina Perrone, DDS

Dr. Marielaina Perrone, DDS, is a trusted cosmetic and family dentist in Henderson, NV, known for helping patients achieve healthy, beautiful smiles through personalized, compassionate care. With more than 20 years of clinical experience, she combines advanced dental expertise with an artistic eye to deliver exceptional results in porcelain veneers, dental implants, smile makeovers, periodontal therapy, Botox, dermal fillers, and facial aesthetic treatments.

A graduate with honors from Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine, Dr. Perrone remains committed to lifelong learning and regularly pursues advanced continuing education in cosmetic dentistry, implant dentistry, and facial aesthetics. Her comprehensive approach focuses on enhancing oral health, facial harmony, and overall confidence through customized treatment plans tailored to each patient’s unique goals.

Dr. Perrone is passionate about patient education, preventive care, and building lasting relationships founded on trust, communication, and comfort. She believes every patient deserves individualized attention and treatment that supports both long-term health and a confident smile.

Proudly serving Henderson, Green Valley, Las Vegas, Summerlin, and surrounding communities, Dr. Perrone is dedicated to providing modern, patient-centered dentistry in a welcoming environment. Outside the office, she enjoys cooking, staying active, spending time with family, and participating in community activities throughout the Las Vegas Valley.

Reviewed for Clinical Accuracy

This article has been written and clinically reviewed by Marielaina Perrone, DDS, to ensure it reflects current evidence-based dentistry and the personalized philosophy of care practiced at her Henderson, Nevada office.

Last Reviewed: September 2026