The effects of missing teeth and how to prevent them

Besides an unpleasant appearance, missing teeth also cause difficulty in chewing and other oral problems such as negatively affecting the rest of your teeth, changing your facial structure, causing the bone to age prematurely, all of which. 

Let’s read on with The East Rose Dental (Old Rose Dental Clinic) to learn about the five consequences of missing teeth!  

1. Chewing difficulty and increased risk of various diseases

Missing teeth, whether just one or many, reduce your chewing force, resulting in difficulty in breaking down foods. Over time, this may cause mal-absorption in the stomach and intestines.

As a result, people with missing teeth are more likely to suffer digestive diseases than others.

2. Bite misalignment, malposition of teeth

Just one missing tooth and the rest of yours will lose their alignment. The adjacent teeth tend to slide into the new gap. Meanwhile, the counterpart of the missing tooth is likely to rise up or droop down to fill in that gap, resulting in gapped and crooked teeth.

As time goes by, this will cause TMJ disorder, whose symptoms include fatigue, pain near the ears, headache, stress, not to mention changing your facial structure, making you look older.

3. Bone loss

Jaw bone loss is a serious complication of missing teeth. The bone beneath the gap will slowly wear away. This means the longer your missing teeth aren’t replaced, the more bone you lose.

Over time, this will affect your facial structure and deepen your wrinkles, all of which contribute to premature aging.

In addition, you will also have trouble with dental restoration, such as:

• Removable dentures will feel loose, bridges don’t look as good as they’re supposed to, implants aren’t applicable due to lack of proper bone thickness.
• Moreover, these don’t help prevent bone loss. Therefore, bone loss still occurs even after you have had removable dentures or dental bridges to replace your missing teeth.

4. Premature aging

Your jaw bone supports your whole facial structures. When your jaw bone wears away due to missing teeth, your cheeks will be pulled inwards, your facial skin will droop down, making you look significantly older than your age.
Missing teeth can affect people of all ages.

Thus, anyone with one or more missing teeth should visit a dentist as soon as possible to consider replacement options such as implants, fixed or removable dentures.

5. Inflammation of the gums and surrounding structures

When you are missing teeth, you’re more likely to get oral diseases such as cavities, gum inflammation, and periodontitis, etc., which damage the rest of your teeth. Consequently, you are at an increased risk of losing more teeth.

What people with missing teeth should keep in mind:

• Dental replacement options such as removable dentures or fixed bridges can’t prevent bone loss caused by missing teeth. Only dental implants are able to preserve jaw bone, maintaining your facial structure.
• The more time passes, the more bone your lose. Therefore, the sooner you get implants, the easier the procedure is. The success rate will also be higher and your overall appearance will be better, too.

Hopefully, this article on missing teeth and their consequences can be helpful for you!