Losing an adult tooth or multiple adult teeth can be quite a traumatic and upsetting experience for anyone, at any age. Not only are toothless gaps not aesthetically pleasing, but losing a tooth/teeth can also cause long term dental health problems – such as:
- Jaw bone shrinking (one of the main cause for concern)
- Adjacent teeth grow inwards (crooked teeth – Other teeth start to become loose)
- Difficulty eating hard food
- Less protection of exposed gum
- Difficulty speaking
- Increased chance of gum disease
As indicated, one of the main causes for concern is when the jaw bone starts to shrink. Your teeth are very important for your mouth and when a tooth is lost, the bit of your jaw where the tooth was will start to decay and die over time, causing the gumline to recede. The longer this has been left, the worse it will be for the sufferer – and more treatment will be needed to rectify this!
Not only is this bad for your general dental health (including a higher chance of gum disease), but it will also affect the bone structure of your face, meaning your overall aesthetical look will have been affected, which will further knock your confidence.
There is hope!
Luckily, with modern advances in the dentistry field, there are a few different options that can treat missing teeth and help ensure a long term healthy dental life.
- Dental Bridges
- Dentures
- Dental Implants (the most expensive but effective treatment available)
Depending on the exact situation with your dental health, there can be a combination of treatments that could be suitable for you.
Dental Bridges
Dental bridges are permanent false teeth that are anchored in by being attached to the surrounding teeth (which will in turn support those teeth).
Dentures
Dentures are a removable solution that replace missing teeth (upper or lower arch or both), and they can also be a permanent solution with the use of dental implants. If the sufferer hasn’t lost all their teeth, an overdenture could be the solution for them, as it can sit over remaining teeth as well as replacing the missing teeth.
Dental Implants
Over the past few years, dental implants have quickly become the preferred long term solution for missing teeth. Dental implants can be very flexible, meaning it can replace a combination of missing teeth, with fixed dental bridges, crowns, or all your teeth with dentures and overdentues – Dental implants can cater for any scenario!
The main long term benefit of dental implants for your dental health is the fact that the implant will integrate with your jawbone, providing the support it needs to stop it from decaying. This will help reduce the chance of gum disease and will help keep your teeth from growing crooked.
As previously mentioned, the longer missing teeth are left, the more complicated a treatment will be. If for example the bone has started to recede, a bone graft may be needed to be performed before a dental implant can even be placed and treatments will vary from case to case, as there can be multiple different scenarios that affect the treatment you may need.
This article has been contributed by Dr Faresh Desai, a highly trained and commended Dental Implantologist, who has carried out many dental implants in Solihull, Birmingham. Please visit his practice’s site www.onedentalclinic.co.uk