There are various causes of missing teeth, but all of them can lead to serious complications with your oral health. When you learn about the possible dangers of tooth loss, it can encourage you to seek restorative treatments that help mitigate and prevent damage to your smile. For instance, a dental implant can return stimulation to your jawbone to help prevent losing density when missing a tooth. In today’s blog, your Rochester, MN, dentist discusses complications from tooth loss and subsequent solutions!
What Contributes To Losing Teeth?
While far from inevitable, many Americans can expect to lose some teeth as they age. Poor oral hygiene practices lead to cavities and gum disease when bacterial plaques are not removed on a regular basis. As gum disease progresses, it destroys the connective tissue of your gums and bone, threatening the stability of your teeth. In fact, this most common cause of tooth loss requires routine maintenance to prevent it from advancing. Failure to receive regular care for your gum infection can quickly lead to missing teeth.
Tooth Loss Harms Your Oral Health
Left untreated, a missing tooth creates an open gap for neighboring teeth to move towards. This dental drift pulls your alignment out of position contributing to disfunction with your bite. As certain teeth take disproportionate force from your misaligned bite, they begin to lose the protection of their enamel. When this layer is removed, your chances of tooth decay increase. Because you must move your jaw in awkward positions to accommodate for your gap, you can develop stress and pain associated with temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ). Losing a tooth contributes to a more aged appearance as the muscles of your face lose support and sink inwards.
A Solution To Return Your Smile
When you visit Greenview Dentistry, we can examine the extent of your dental loss to determine if you are a candidate for dental implants. This therapy inserts a titanium post directly into the jaw to provide support for a prosthetic above your gumline. After inserting the post, your oral tissues fuse with it as you heal to secure the post in place potentially for decades. To return the top portion of a missing tooth, we could attach a dental crown that provides a lifelike appearance. The combination of your new crown and implant post can provide needed functional and cosmetic value to your smile!
Talk To Your Rochester, MN Dentist About Options For Replacing Missing Teeth
The use of dental implants can help restore your smile after losing one or more of your teeth! If you would like to learn more about how we replace missing teeth with prosthetics, or if you wish to book an appointment at our location, call Greenview Cosmetic And Family Dentistry in Rochester, MN at (507) 281-3659.
