Consequences of Not Replacing Your Back Tooth Missing a tooth, even just one, can cause severe and permanent damage to your entire mouth. When you lose a back molar, its surrounding teeth are also impacted because they lose surrounding structure and support. Unfortunately, this causes your other back teeth to shift.
Waiting too long to replace a missing tooth can eventually cause adjacent teeth to drift enough that problems such as crowding occur. Teeth growing into the gap of a missing tooth can make contact, which can cause uncomfortable pressure and create tight spaces between the teeth and gums.
It would be best to replace missing teeth as soon as possible to prevent tooth shifting. However, if you have a tooth extracted, it is advised to wait four to six months to have the tooth replaced. All in all, this interval gives your gums time to heal before performing another operation.
Is it Necessary to Replace Missing Teeth? Tooth replacement is in your best interest and highly recommended. As soon as you replace a missing tooth, you improve the overall health of your mouth. The space left by a missing tooth negatively affects your nutrition, the surrounding teeth, and your jawbone.
Living Without a Tooth
There are many consequences to living with a missing tooth that you may not have considered such as: The inability to eat and chew properly. This takes a toll on your nutrition. Movement and shifting of your healthy teeth.
Tooth loss provides an opening for bacteria to enter your gums, leading to inflammation, infection, and gum disease. Gum disease can damage the connective tissues and bones supporting your teeth, causing them to become loose and eventually fall out.
When there's a gap in your teeth because of a missing tooth, there's space for bacteria, tartar, and plaque to get into your gum line. This puts you at greater risk of gum disease. Once gum disease sets in, you're at greater risk for some serious medical conditions such as heart disease and stroke.
Dental implants are the preferred method of replacing missing teeth. A metal post is put in place of the root, and an artificial tooth that looks and feels natural replaces the missing tooth. The process takes some time because the implant will fuse to the jawbone.
Long-term oral health problems
A missing tooth could lead to gum disease and increase your risk of an oral infection, which, left untreated, could lead to bigger, more serious health issues.
If only a small piece of your tooth broke off, your dental professional might be able to protect the remainder of the tooth with a crown or filling. If the fracture is severe, endodontic surgery may be required to remove the fractured portion to protect the pulp and the tooth.
If a tiny portion of your tooth is broken, the dentist might recommend protecting the remaining portion of the tooth with dental fillings or a dental crown. If you have a severe fracture, the dentist offers endodontic surgery to eliminate the fractured portion to protect the dental pulp in the tooth.
Dental crowns, sometimes called dental caps, serve many purposes in dentistry. They can enhance the look of a misshapen tooth, protect a tooth after a root canal, or strengthen a tooth with a large filling. Dental crowns can even replace a missing tooth.
A single implant in Australia range from $3,000 to $6,500.
A dental implant provides several advantages over other tooth replacement options. In addition to looking and functioning like a natural tooth, a dental implant replaces a single tooth without sacrificing the health of neighboring teeth.
Feeling embarrassed by missing teeth is very common, but even if you're missing one, two, or more teeth, you're absolutely not alone. In fact, it's more rare to reach adulthood with all your teeth intact.
Tooth decay, gum disease, and injury are common causes of missing teeth. Some people are born without certain teeth, and this condition is called congenitally missing teeth. Genetic factors cause congenitally missing teeth and this condition is often seen in generations of a family.
Missing wisdom teeth are the most common, followed by premolars (located between the canines and molars), upper lateral incisors (located on either side of the central incisors, or “front teeth”), and lower central incisors (front bottom teeth).
Number of teeth a dental bridge can replace
A dental bridge can take the place of a single tooth but is commonly used to restore two, three, four, or more teeth. The greater the number of missing teeth, the more crowns needed to support the bridge and the less stable the bridge tends to be.
If your crown fell out with no tooth left, you may have to consider alternate methods for replacing the tooth. Only your dentist can determine the best course of treatment, so it's important not to panic. Take a breath and make an appointment with your dental team as soon as possible.
A crown is the better option if you have a tooth that can and should be salvaged. For example, a cracked tooth can be repaired and protected with a crown. It will cover the entire tooth down to the gum line, forming a hard shell over it. In many cases, this can be enough to protect the tooth from continued damage.
Among adults from 35 to 44-years-old, 69 percent have lost at least one permanent tooth. By age 50, Americans have lost an average of 12 teeth (including wisdom teeth). And among adults 65 to 74, 26 percent have lost all their teeth.
A tooth that is broken or fractured below the gum line or down to the bone level may also be considered non-restorable. When the roots of the teeth become fractured due to trauma, healing may be nearly impossible, and tooth extraction may be the best choice.
A dead tooth can stay in your mouth for up to several days or months; however, keeping a dead tooth may lead to problems with your jaw and also result in the spreading of decay and bacteria to other teeth. Most dentists will recommend having the dead tooth extracted and replaced with a denture, bridge, or implant.