Our O’Fallon dental implant dentists have found that tooth loss can start an unpleasant chain reaction in terms of oral health for many patients. The best thing that you can do, as an informed dental patient, is to seek prompt and comprehensive treatment for tooth loss. The longer you put off treatment, the more likely you are to notice changes to your…
Dental Alignment
It is very common for people suffering from tooth loss to find that their teeth change in alignment. Your teeth may start to shift toward the hole in your smile, and they can become crowded and crooked in high density areas. The key to preventing misalignment is to replace your tooth with a high quality dental restoration. Not only will this help your smile look and feel whole again, but it will also support adjacent teeth.
Jawbone
The effects of tooth loss extend beyond the visible into the underlying structure of your smile. Tooth roots and jawbone tissue exist side by side; unfortunately, when a tooth root goes missing the surrounding bone can start to weaken and break down. Talk to your dentist about tooth replacement options that replace the tooth root, as well as the visible crown.
Additional Tooth Loss
Losing a tooth is a destabilizing event for your oral system. Sometimes, this initial blow can set off a chain reaction of events that create additional tooth loss down the line. In order to protect your smile from future damage, you want to rebuild missing portions of your smile, and take steps to foster healthy dental enamel and jawbone tissue. You also want to make sure that your bite is functional and healthy, and that you are not putting undue stress or strain in particular teeth.
To learn more about the health effects of tooth loss, and to schedule a consultation with our O’Fallon dentists, please give our office a call. Remember, you can also use the Contact Us page on our website to get started!