Your teeth develop in a way that not only give you a stunning smile, but maintain the structural integrity of your mouth. Missing even one tooth for too long can affect how you chew, smile and speak. This article will go into further detail on the consequences of missing a tooth for too long, and what you can do to save your mouth.
Appearance
An obvious one is that you’ll have a hole where your tooth used to be. It’s very likely that people around you will notice immediately when you talk, and it can significantly affect a person’s willingness to smile and talk with others. It may gradually become more embarrassing for the affected person, and cause anxiety and self-esteem issues.
Misaligned bite
Missing teeth cause your bite to become misaligned. When this happens, the remaining teeth still in your mouth begin to shift as the bite pressure changes when chewing or speaking. Shifting teeth can then cause other problems beyond simply eating, speaking and tooth damage. It can lead to temporomandibular joint (TMJ) syndrome and chronic headaches.
TMJ symptoms involve earaches, pain in your temples and jaw. Your mouth also has to work harder to chew food like it used to, which adds more strain to your facial muscles. When they are overworked, you’ll have more headaches.
Faster loss of enamel
Teeth will naturally wear a little over time, but when your teeth shift because of a gap, their alignment will change and teeth will begin to collide in different spots, causing tooth wear and damaging the enamel. A thinner enamel leaves your tooth more vulnerable to sensitivity and pain, chipped teeth and difficulty chewing. Damaged enamel also leaves your teeth wide open to tooth decay caused by plaque buildup, eventually leading to cavities if you don’t regularly maintain your teeth.
Gum disease
That hole left in your mouth becomes an irresistible target for plaque and other bacteria to target surrounding teeth and the gums. Without proper dental care & hygiene, you may get gum disease and expose your other teeth to many other problems such as cavities.
Options for filling the gap?
There are a variety of false teeth options available to you, depending on the amount of teeth you have lost, and how healthy the rest of your teeth are. If you are only missing one or two teeth, then a single tooth partial denture procedure is where you’d want to look at first. Dentures should be removed when sleeping, and while it may not be as viable for younger people, it’s a legitimate option if you don’t want to have dental surgery. For single or multiple teeth missing in a row, you should consider the dental bridge options that are available at your dentist.
Cosmic Smile offers many high quality and affordable options to replace lost teeth, perform checkups and much more. For all your dental needs, contact the specialists of tooth replacement in Sydney today.
