It’s no surprise to hear that your facial features are the major component of your first impression. In particular, the quality of your smile — which is primarily based on the condition of your teeth — is proven to be the first thing others will notice about you when meeting. Your teeth can make you self-confident or self-conscious — the latter will be especially true if you have missing teeth. Beyond the aesthetics of tooth loss, there are medical consequences that also come into play. Let’s take a closer look at this issue, so that you appreciate the need to pay attention to tooth loss and are aware of the best treatment option.
A Silent Problem?
Did you know that tooth loss isn’t rare in the United States? There are many adults who are walking around without a full set of permanent teeth. The stats may surprise you.
In the United States, the average person, aged 20 to 64 has an average of 24.92 teeth remaining. That means that the average adult is missing around seven teeth.¹
Missing teeth open your mouth to a host of potential health issues, both in the mouth and in the body as a whole. However, this does not have to be the case as missing teeth are, in many cases, preventable and typically able to be fixed. Read more at Guardian Direct
If you’re one of the many Americans who don’t have their full set of teeth, you need to understand the potential complications. We’ll examine them in the next section.
Why Worry About Missing Teeth?
If you’re living with missing teeth, you’re also probably hoping that life will go on without you having to worry about the possible problems. This can be a costly game of roulette as you will see in the informative post excerpted below.
The consequences of deciding against replacing a missing tooth may not seem that important, but three things can happen to other teeth, jawbone, and gums if you neglect to replace missing tooth.
Occlusion or the bite is off is one consequence. What teeth you have and how you care for them determines how your upper and lower jaw fit together when chewing or when your mouth is closed. Malocclusion, a severe form of occlusion, is technically described as a bad bite and often results when you have missing teeth.
Gums and jawbone can break down and create hollowness in the face without tooth replacement.
A super eruption is a possibility. Super eruption happens to the teeth opposite your missing teeth since nothing can stop the erupting tooth from growing longer. Read more at Voss Dental
The wise men said that indecision is in itself a decision. When you choose not to do anything about your missing teeth, you’ve chosen one of these consequences.
Little-Known Causes of Tooth Loss
Did you know that tooth loss can occur as a result of other health conditions? Even with great oral hygiene habits, your teeth can be compromised by other factors. Keep reading for details.
Other common causes of tooth loss in adults don’t initially appear to have anything to do with the mouth and actually originate and directly affect other areas of the body. However, there is a strong correlation between what happens in our bodies and what happens in our mouths. Therefore, there are several whole-body health concerns that can increase the risk of tooth loss, such as:
High Blood Pressure
Diabetes
Smoking
Poor Diet
Arthritis…Read more at Dentistry Asheboro
In addition to your daily mouth care, you should maintain a healthy lifestyle more generally to help ensure that no health-related complications compromise your smile.
By this point, it should be clear that missing teeth can come at a hefty price to both your overall health and your self-image. The good news is there’s a way to permanently replace one or more missing teeth with a variety of dental implants that completely restore your appearance, bite strength and stability. At Campbell Oral Surgery & Dental Implant Center, we are passionate about your oral health. We can even give you a new smile in one day with our dental implant solutions. Dr. William Campbell is an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, and the leading implant provider in the Columbus, GA and Phenix City, AL metro area. Call us at 706-324-6106 or reach us through the contact form on our website to book an appointment with him. We look forward to speaking with you.
