Why do I need to bother replacing my missing tooth?

People can lose teeth for many reasons: tooth decay, injury, and gum disease.

You could lose a single tooth or several.

The adult human has 32 teeth in total (including Wisdom teeth), so why would you need to bother replacing the odd one or two?

Every time you lose a tooth you lose some of your chewing ability. This can cause you to place unnecessary stress on the other teeth or that the food you swallow is not chewed enough leading to digestive problems.

The teeth that are next to the gap will start shifting and tilting into the gap. They will then become more prone to decay and gum disease as they become harder to clean.

The tooth that is above or below the gap will start growing upward/downward into the gap. This can cause the root of that tooth to become exposed.

In the event of losing multiple teeth, your ‘bite’ can collapse and the distance between your chin and your nose will shorten, making your face shorter and the facial muscles will sink into the area of missing teeth, giving you a ‘sunken’ appearance.

Aesthetically this can be upsetting as gaps can be seen when talking or smiling and can ultimately affect your self-esteem and self-image.

The longer you wait after a tooth is extracted the more difficult and more expensive it can become to replace it.

There are a number of replacements available to you subject to consultation with your dentist. These can range from a conventional bridge, to a dentureor Dental Implants.

Dental Implants are fast becoming the solution of choice for many people as they are a fixed permanent solution. The advantages of dental implants are that they are fixed in pace and look and feel like real teeth. They are not designed to come out of your mouth at any time and are by far the easiest to live with. Dental Implants will help to preserve the bone levels in your jaw.

A denture is removable and held in place by metal clasps. Generally they are a lot of cheaper than dental implants but can interfere with your speech due its bulky nature and the bone levels in your jaw will continue to deteriorate.

A bridge is a much used option for the replacement of one or two teeth, but they have a limited life span, and will eventually need replacing. Depending on the type of bridge used, you may have to have perfectly healthy teeth adjacent to the gaps filed down for the bridge to attach to. Why ruin perfectly good teeth if you don’t have to when Dental Implants are readily available.

For further information or advice contact College Street Dental Centre in Petersfield, Hampshire on 01730 263180