If given the choice, almost any dentist will prefer to work on saving your natural teeth rather than moving to any other option. There are usually several options with regard to replacing broken, chipped, or missing teeth. There are dentures, dental implants, and bridges.
While those may seem like the easier option for some people, they aren’t the most ideal. Your teeth are special because of their strength and because they were designed for a specific purpose. Through millions of years of evolution, teeth serve a specific purpose and even the strongest replacement implants don’t stand up to the same rigors over time.
Many people who receive dental implants find that they need to have them replaced or reworked within a matter of years. Depending on your diet, the types of foods that you consume, your extracurricular activities, and much more, you could end up wearing down implants quickly.
If your existing tooth that is causing you pain is broken, cracked, or has any other issue but still has the base and the root, then there is a good chance that it can be saved. As long as the dentist has enough of the tooth to work a cap onto it, he or she will generally prefer that option to anything else.
There are those individuals who would prefer to have their problem teeth completely removed and to have implants or bridges designed to return their mouth to a healthy appearance. However, that is all it is: an appearance.
An illusion. If you want the best for your oral health, when the dentist provides you with a list of options for your problem tooth (or teeth) and one of those options is working to save your natural teeth, choose that option. It may take time and it will require work, but in the long run you will appreciate it much more later in life.