Missing Teeth
Lincoln Park, NJ
 A shocking number of people lose many of their teeth each year. While losing many teeth may be quite pronounced, losing one tooth also has its adverse effect on our oral and general health. The effects of losing teeth affects people in various age groups differently, but most times our natural oral functions and abilities take the hardest hits.
Modern tooth replacement options can help curb the effects of tooth loss. Our professionals at The Implant Center at Comprehensive Dental have outlined the following effects tooth loss has on most patients.
Teeth Misalignment
Our teeth are a set that rely on each other for support and stability. This may not be obvious, but losing as little as a single tooth opens up a space in our dental alignment. Because each tooth needs the surrounding teeth to retain its position, a vacant space means that surrounding teeth may begin to shift and lose their position.
This affects the alignment, which results in issues with our bite. Bite is how our teeth fit together and over each other. Misplaced alignment means a disrupted bite, leading to dental issues.
Strained Eating and Speech Production
One immediate effect of missing one or more teeth is how it affects our food intake. The vacant spaces cause reduced chewing and biting efficiency and also disturbs our normal eating practice. Difficulty in chewing food also leads to loss of interest in meals, resulting in inadequate nutrition.
Moreover, our teeth play an important role in how our words are formed. When some teeth are missing in important spaces, pronunciation becomes a difficult endeavor. Patients may have to repeat themselves often for other people to clearly understand what they are saying.
Jawbone Atrophy
While we use our teeth to chew food for easy digestion, chewing also plays a strong role in keeping our jawbone healthy. Jawbone atrophy, which means jawbone loss, results from loss of teeth. Our jawbones keep their density and vigor by receiving stimulation from our teeth. When we chew, the stimulation from those movements travel through the tooth root to the jawbone.
Losing a tooth means losing stimulation for that jawbone area. Without stimulation, the jawbone in that area begins to recede. It slowly loses its density and shape in that area, shrinking and degenerating. The gum and facial muscles in that area also suffer from this development, giving a sunken appearance to the face.
Loss Of Self Confidence
Following the loss of a tooth, many patients become very conscious of the appearance of their smile. Patients who lose many teeth without replacing them become very careful of how they open their mouth, fearing that the loss of teeth may portray negatively on their appearance. Laughing freely is no longer a luxury as the missing teeth take a toll on their self-confidence.
Avoiding The Effects Of Tooth Loss
While it is nearly impossible that any human may never lose at least one tooth, advancements in dental technologies have brought lasting solutions to minimize the effects of losing teeth.
From dental implants to dental bridges and dentures (full and partial dentures), you have many options for oral rehabilitation, to retain your smile and oral abilities. To know which one you may be a candidate for, speak to our experts at The Implant Center at Comprehensive Dental.
Multiple Teeth Replacement
Have you lost multiple teeth from trauma to the mouth, health issues, or even due to age? Restorative dentistry has many options to help you restore your oral capacities. With multiple teeth implants, you can regain your smile and confidence, and enjoy your food without worry of damage to your dental restoration.
To avoid straining other healthy teeth, our professionals at The Implant Center at Comprehensive Dental give patients their desired smiles with multiple teeth implants, while restoring their full oral capacities.
Replacing Multiple Missing Teeth with Dental Implants
While there are other known dental prosthetics for replacing multiple missing teeth, implant-supported bridges provide many benefits. They make use of dental implants as a base.
These dental implants are tiny titanium screws that we place into the jawbone surgically, to form a strong support for the dental bridge. The dental bridge is an array of artificial crowns that have been previously selected to fit each patient individually.
Benefits of Implant-Supported Bridges
Using implant-supported bridges for multiple tooth restoration combines the benefits of both prosthetics for use. The dental implants allow for a solid base for supporting the bridge. It also ensures that the jawbone in that area keeps its density, since missing teeth cause the jawbone to lose its density.
Instead of having a single implant for each missing tooth in a cluster, you save more with implant supported bridges as you only place implants in strategic points.
Also, using dental implants means that surrounding natural teeth are left as they are. Traditional bridges will require that the surrounding teeth are reshaped to hold the bridge in place. This also causes strain to those reshaped teeth as they have to hold the weight of the bridge. Dental implant-supported bridges eliminate all of those issues, with its firm root set in the jawbone.
The Procedure for Placing an Implant-Supported Bridge
Our professionals will have a consulting session with you. Here, we will examine your dental and general health to see if you can receive a dental implant. We will also take X-rays and assess your mouth to prepare for the procedure. Measurements of the vacant space will be taken for creating your personalized bridge. Then we proceed to place the implant.
The implant is placed after we put the patient under anesthesia. The gums are cut open to expose the jawbone, which is drilled and receives the implants. This will be sutured back and left to heal. During the healing period, you may receive a temporary bridge. After the jawbone is healed, you will return to have your personalized bridge placed.
The temporary one is removed, and the permanent one is placed and adjusted to fit. This usually does not cause any pain.
Caring for an Implant-Supported Bridge
After the complete procedure, you can go ahead and use your new teeth like your natural teeth. Good oral hygiene is needed to keep your implants healthy. You will have to pay attention to cleaning around the bridge since your gums are still susceptible to bacteria. Regular checkups are also advised, as our professionals use this opportunity to do a thorough cleaning and examination on your implants.
Don't Suffer with Missing Teeth Any Longer!
If you are interested in replacing your multiple missing teeth, speak to our professionals at The Implant Center at Comprehensive Dental today, by calling (973) 578-6377 to learn if you are a suitable candidate. |
