Why Should I Replace My Missing Teeth?
Replacing missing teeth is important for several reasons:
Oral health: Missing teeth can disrupt the balance and alignment of your bite, leading to changes in chewing patterns, jaw joint issues, and uneven wear on remaining teeth. Replacing missing teeth can help restore proper function and alignment of your bite, improving your overall oral health.
Aesthetics: Missing teeth can impact the appearance of your smile, which can affect your self-confidence and self-esteem.
Speech and pronunciation: Teeth play an important role in speech and pronunciation. Missing teeth, especially in the front of the mouth, can affect your ability to articulate certain sounds properly, leading to speech difficulties.
Nutrition and digestion: Chewing is the first step in the digestive process, and missing teeth can make it difficult to chew food properly, leading to poor nutrition and digestive issues.
Bone preservation: When teeth are lost, the jawbone can begin to deteriorate over time due to lack of stimulation. This can result in bone loss and changes in facial structure, leading to a sunken or aged appearance. Dental implants, a common tooth replacement option, can help preserve the jawbone by providing stimulation and preventing bone resorption.
Adjacent teeth stability: Missing teeth can cause adjacent teeth to shift or tilt, leading to misalignment or bite problems. Replacing missing teeth can help maintain the stability and alignment of adjacent teeth, preventing further dental issues.
Ways to Replace Missing Teeth
Implants
Implant technology is one of the greatest revolutions of the dental profession in the last twenty years. The process involves placing a titanium fixture (much like a very specialized screw) directly into the jawbone where the tooth or teeth are missing. Once healed and integrated, the titanium implant can then act as the foundation to support a crown. The crown is custom fabricated to connect precisely with the implant to replace what was previously missing. When done correctly in areas of adequate bone, an implant-supported crown provides a very stable predictable long term solution that will provide many years of function.
Bridges
The traditional way of replacing missing teeth involved using the existing natural teeth on either side of the gap or space to support the prosthetic teeth or bridge. The bridge is a permanent fixture which replaces the missing tooth and also prevents the adjacent teeth from drifting into the open space. Providing the supporting teeth have adequate foundation and strength they are prepared by the dentist to receive the bridge which is fabricated in a dental laboratory.
Dentures
These are prosthetic plates which can carry any number of teeth. Unlike the implant crowns and bridges, dentures are removable and can be taken out of the mouth and placed back in at will. The base or frame of the denture can be made from a strong light metal or an acrylic plastic. There are many design options but usually small clasp arms (clips) stabilise the dentures in place on the remaining natural teeth. Dentures can often be used as a simple cost effective means of replacing teeth.
