Never Ignore A Missing Tooth!!

CLINICAL CONTENT WRITTEN & REVIEWED BY CLOVE CLINICAL TEAM

Last Modified: August 20, 2018

FACT CHECKED

Tooth loss is an important aspect of oral health because it impairs esthetics, chewing function and consequently quality of life. In general, decay and gum disease are regarded as the main reasons for tooth loss. Tooth loss can also result from trauma, treatment failure, infection, malignancies & amp; agenesis and can present adverse consequences on the remaining dentition and on the patients’ general well-being.

The main reasons people want to replace missing teeth are for cosmetic purposes and to enable them to chew their food easily. However there are far more nasty consequences that can arise from having not replacing missing teeth.

Here are 7 reasons to make you seriously consider getting teeth replacements:

1. When teeth are missing it can lead to jaw bone loss at the site of the gap

In the same way that exercising your body helps keep muscle tone, jaw bone mass is maintained through the stimulation of chewing and biting. When a tooth is missing, the area of bone where the tooth was originally located no longer receives such stimulation and it starts to disappear – a process called resorption.

2. The remaining teeth can become misaligned, drift into the gap or loosen

Without a neighboring tooth to keep them in check, remaining teeth may start to drift. This could make it difficult to bite and chew if the teeth are no longer aligned properly. Furthermore, the drifting of a tooth can destabilize its roots, leading to a wobbly tooth or outright loss.

3. Missing teeth may alter facial features

Without teeth being in place to ‘support’ the face, a person’s facial features may start to look distorted, with sunken cheeks and skin wrinkling around the mouth.

4. Missing teeth can cause chronic headaches

If you had a diseased tooth which caused you pain and had to be removed, you may believe that your problems are over. However, this is not the case. When teeth are missing the remaining teeth have no opposite number to rest on or bite against. The remaining teeth may start to over erupt and cause damage to the opposing gum. Not only does this cause gum and facial pain, but with time the situation causes stress at the jaw joint (Temporo Mandibular Joint) leading to chronic headaches.

5. Inability to talk properly

A lack of teeth can make it difficult for people to pronounce certain words properly and they may have a whistling sound each time they speak.

6. Inadequate nutrition

Due to the missing tooth people can’t bite and chew their food properly therefore, they simply eat less or choose to eat only soft food which doesn’t provide them with all the nutrients they require. Consequently, this takes a toll on the health of their whole body.

7. Sinus expansion

If teeth are lost from the back upper jaw, the sinus cavity which lies above, will start to expand and erode the jaw bone.

For these reasons it is best to replace missing teeth as soon as you can. People often underestimate the impact that missing teeth will have on their looks and their health, but the changes above are likely to occur, to some extent, in most people who have lost multiple teeth.

By:-
Dr. Manpreet Kaur
Prosthodontist, Clove Dental