Why Replacing Missing Teeth Is Important
Although there are various reasons for requiring the removal of teeth, such as tooth decay, gum disease, smoking or trauma, there are also numerous reason to replace your missing teeth. Teeth are sometimes thought of as individual units, but they are actually a complete system. Having missing teeth can severely impact your quality of life and overall health. There are several options to replace missing teeth depending on your personal situation.
Reasons to replace your missing teeth include:
2. Functional Changes: Your teeth are designed to work as an efficient system to chew and grind food, with each tooth having its own discrete role. When you lose a tooth you lose chewing efficiency, which leads to additional pressure being redistributed to the remaining teeth. This additional pressure on teeth can cause them to become mobile over time. As you lose more and more teeth, the remaining teeth may start to chip and break as your bite changes. This can lead to permanent damage to your teeth. Also, teeth can start to tip towards the empty space over time. Once this happens it can become difficult to restore this missing space because of the tipped tooth.
3. Gum disease: Periodontal disease, also known as gum disease, is a preventable disease that can be caused by inadequate oral hygiene. Effective brushing and flossing techniques are important to maintain your teeth and gums in a healthy state. When the gums are irritated by plaque and calculus you will have localized inflammation around these teeth; this will cause eventual bone loss and gum recession around these teeth. This will have an impact on the adjacent teeth, as they can experience bone loss in the direction of the missing tooth.
4. Bone loss: When a tooth is present, the surrounding bone receives stimulus that signals the bone to maintain its volume and density. Once you lose a tooth, this supporting bone no longer receives these signals and you begin to lose volume of bone in height and width. This can be slowed down with a bone graft at the time of tooth extraction and can be maintained by placing an implant. An implant can send similar signals to the surrounding bone that results in maintenance of that bone volume.
5. Over Eruption: When you lose a tooth on the lower jaw then the opposing tooth on the upper jaw will start to migrate downwards over time. This happens because nothing is opposing this continual growth and eventually this tooth will appear lower than the rest of the teeth when you smile. This can be detrimental in the future because this tooth impinges on the space where the missing tooth was, making it difficult to replace the missing tooth in the future.
6. Aesthetics: A missing tooth that is visible when you smile can have a dramatic impact on your appearance, especially missing teeth in the front area. Replacing any missing teeth can enhance your appearance and self-confidence.
Need to replace a missing tooth? Schedule an appointment today.
