What Happens If You Don’t Replace Missing Teeth?
According to a recent study, nearly half of American adults have lost at least one permanent tooth. If you are one of those adults, you may be avoiding taking any measures to replace your missing tooth. There are plenty of reasons to delay dental treatment which include fear of the dentist, fear of the cost of the treatment, or underestimating the importance of having all your teeth or a full mouth of teeth.
When you have only one missing or damaged tooth and the rest of your natural teeth are in place, you may delay or avoid making a dental appointment to address the single tooth. If the tooth is not in a very visible location and you may not feel the urgency of taking the next step in your treatment to restore your mouth. Even though you are not in need of a full set of dentures, you should still review the best ways to replace missing teeth to avoid some of the complications that happen when you do not replace missing teeth.
If you allow the new empty space in your mouth to remain empty, you will notice the surrounding teeth starting to shift. The additional space gives your teeth more room than they had before on your jaw and there may be enough shifting to cause your once straight teeth to go crooked. After your teeth have started to shift, then you will notice that your bite is not aligned as well as it once was. When your bite is off, then you may be applying pressure on areas of your teeth that are not strong enough to withstand the strength of your bite. Your teeth will start to show signs of wear on their enamel and can crack. The uneven pressure can lead to grinding your teeth and even temporomandibular joint disorder. Tension headaches often accompany bruxism and TMJ disorder. Finally, as a result of the lack of stimulation from the tooth root, your jaw bone will start to weaken in that spot. The bone relies on the pressure from biting to stay strong and dense. For some people, the jaw bone will start to weaken around the area of missing tooth as well leaving your other teeth more vulnerable to loss or weakening.
Instead of risking any or all of those problems and the costs that come with them, you should make an appointment with the dentist to talk about your tooth replacement options. The dentist will be able to evaluate your teeth and overall health to help determine what the best choice is. You can talk to the dentist about your concerns regarding pain or discomfort and the cost of the treatment. If you have dental insurance coverage, you can review your policy to see what costs may be covered. The dentist may even offer payment plan options to help you keep your mouth and budget as healthy as possible. If you have been avoiding replacing a missing tooth, its time to take action before you no longer have a choice.