How Crucial is it to replace your missing teeth at the right time?
“Why should I replace a missing tooth? After all it’s just a single tooth and that too in the back of my mouth. The gap won’t even show when I smile wide!” said our 42 year old female patient.
This is a very common discussion we have with most of our patients when we ask them whether they would like to replace their missing teeth with Dental Implants or a Dental Bridge or a Denture. Most patients, especially youngsters and ladies, will readily agree to replace their missing tooth if the gap shows when they smile. But is that the only factor to consider when you lose a tooth? Absolutely not!
An adult has 32 teeth in his/her mouth. Each tooth has a certain shape, size and position, which gives the tooth a specific function. Healthy teeth keep the surrounding jaw bone and gums healthy and vice versa. Missing teeth can lead to inefficient chewing, faulty diction, jaw bone loss and they can give your lips and cheeks a sunken and old appearance. All this worsens with time and can affect your self-esteem too! That’s a big reason for older people who shy from smiling too much.
When you lose one or more teeth, the remaining teeth can weaken as they have to bear extra chewing forces. This extra force is slowly transmitted to the jaw bone, which can ultimately lead to movement and loosening of the teeth over time. Also, teeth have a tendency to make contact with neighbouring teeth and teeth from the opposite jaw. So once you lose a tooth, the neighbouring teeth will shift their position to close that space, while the teeth from the opposite jaw will erupt further (supra-erupt). All these changes will eventually lead to a bad biting pattern and damage the teeth and bone due to faulty chewing forces.
By now you would agree that it is absolutely necessary to replace one or more missing teeth and that the sooner it is done, the better it is for you. So let us take a look at the options that we have:
- 1. Removable dentures: They do not require any surgery but do require grinding of the teeth that will help support the denture. They consist of a metal framework bearing the artificial teeth that derives support from your bone, gums and teeth. Their popularity has decreased over the years as they are not very comfortable to eat with and they may come off while eating or speaking.
- 2. Fixed dental bridges: These may require the grinding and capping of healthy supporting teeth around the gap so that the bridge can be made to replace the missing teeth. Their major disadvantage is that the supporting teeth can loosen over time and maintenance of oral hygiene is slightly cumbersome. If any one of the supporting tooth loosens, the entire bridge fails.
- 3. Dental implants: A dental implant procedure is the most advanced tooth replacement option that is available today. Just like a natural tooth, a dental implant gets its support from the jaw bone, without having to grind any other tooth. Dental implants provide better chewing ability as compared to removable dentures or fixed bridges.
To understand more about the options for replacing missing teeth or to know which option is the best for you or a loved one, feel free to contact The Maxfac Clinic on +91 8879745345. We are a super-speciality dental clinic in South Mumbai at Lamington Road, catering to all your dental and maxillofacial surgery needs.