5 Noncosmetic Reasons to Replace Missing Teeth ASAP

Losing a permanent tooth can make you feel worse about how your smile looks and hurt your self-esteem. But even if a missing tooth isn’t visible and you still like your smile, not having your full set of teeth can cause problems.

Just one missing tooth, according to board-certified dentist Bella Pinkatz, DDS, can cause problems that damage the structure and functionality of your teeth and jaw. Discover 5 noncosmetic reasons you need to replace your missing teeth with dental implants at Kew Gardens Dental P.C., in Queens, New York City.

What problems can missing teeth cause?

Aside from wisdom teeth, all of your permanent adult teeth play an important part in functions like eating, talking, and maintaining your facial structure. If you lose one or more teeth and don’t replace them quickly, you’re at risk of developing one or more of the following problems:

1. Bone loss

Chewing your food brings stimulation to your jawbone that helps it stay strong and healthy. When you stop chewing in an area because of a missing tooth, the bone in that area starts to get weaker. This weakening increases your risk of losing more teeth.

2. Problems chewing 

It gets more difficult to chew and swallow your food when you lose teeth, making it harder and less safe to eat the foods you enjoy. You also put additional pressure on your remaining teeth and are more likely to cause them problems by forcing them to do more work.

3. Difficulty with speech

Your teeth are an important part of forming sounds and speaking clearly. Teeth loss can make it harder to enunciate your voice well and can change the way your speech sounds.

4. Changes to your bite 

As your jaw weakens from tooth loss, your facial structure changes. This not only makes your mouth sag and become more hollow, but it can also change your jaw structure enough to create a pronounced overbite or underbite.

5. Crooked teeth

When you lose a tooth, it leaves space for the rest of your teeth to move around. You can end up with newly crooked teeth that harm your speech and chewing abilities. You might need Invisalign® treatment that wasn’t necessary before.

Replacing missing teeth with dental implants

Fortunately, you can prevent or correct the problems caused by tooth loss by getting dental implants. Dental implants are always beneficial but help the most when you replace your missing teeth as soon as possible. 

Using metal posts implanted into your gum, dental implants are a permanent, natural-looking, and seamlessly functioning solution to lost teeth. You can replace individual teeth, or if you’re missing many teeth, entire areas of your mouth.

Unlike dentures, dental implants remain in your mouth permanently and don’t require any special care beyond brushing and flossing. You can expect dental implants to last for many years.

Getting dental implants is a process that takes multiple steps occurring at our office. During this time, our team carefully prepares your mouth, inserts screws and dental implants, and gives your mouth time to heal and fuse to the implant. Once recovered, dental implants are exactly like natural teeth.

If you’ve lost teeth or are concerned about tooth loss, there’s no time like the present to start to restore your dental health and smile. Contact us to schedule your dental implant consultation.