A lot of people fear losing teeth because of an injury or gum disease because of how it might impact their looks. Missing teeth diminish your smile’s natural beauty and create a lot of oral and overall health issues. A dentist in San Diego, CA, can talk to you about the issues associated with missing teeth during your consultation and can help you prevent them.
Impacts of Missing Teeth on Your Oral Health
- Crooked teeth and teeth gaps. Missing teeth leave gaps that can be noticeable when you lose some front teeth. But because your teeth evolve to keep each other in place, even a missing tooth can impact the rest of the teeth. If you do not get a replacement for a missing tooth, the rest of the teeth will shift toward the gap and become crooked or misaligned, causing many issues. This also increases your risk of losing more teeth since the surrounding teeth can become vulnerable to decay. And the shifting can cause the teeth to become loose.
- Gum disease and overall health risks. Gum disease is the main cause of tooth loss. Unfortunately, it can also cause a lot of other issues. According to studies, gum disease puts you at risk of heart disease. This condition introduces infectious bacteria into your bloodstream, resulting in infections and cardiovascular damage.
No matter the reason for losing a tooth, you have an increased risk of gum disease. if you want to protect your health, you must get a replacement for that missing tooth right away and take steps to prevent more tooth loss.
Preventing Tooth Loss
To prevent tooth loss, you must practice good oral hygiene. You should brush your teeth twice every day for two minutes and floss them once every day. Also, you must rinse your mouth with antiseptic mouthwash to control the number of harmful bacteria in your mouth. Make sure you don’t skip your bi-annual dental appointments, so your dentist can check up your mouth and clean your teeth.
If you already have a missing tooth, you should prevent further issues by getting a tooth replacement. A dental implant and a crown are the best solutions for you. Dental implants are surgically screwed into your jawbone to act like tooth roots. Thus, they offer your jawbone constant stimulation, preventing resorption. The last part of the implant procedure is the placement of a dental crown as your artificial teeth. This crown mimics the shape, size, and color of your real teeth.
