A Dentist in Farmington Says Don’t Settle For Missing Teeth!

It’s often been said, “You don’t miss your water until your well runs dry.” While this expression can be applied to countless situations in life, one that it’s especially true of is your oral health. An estimated 178 million people in the U.S. are missing at least one tooth, and many people don’t anticipate the effects it will have on their smile. But, as any dentist in Farmington will tell you, there are a lot of consequences for a patient’s overall oral health. Fortunately, modern dentistry offers an effective, reliable solution that looks and feels very natural. So, if you’d like to know more about how missing teeth can affect your quality of life and what you can do about it, keep reading!

How Do Missing Teeth Affect Your Oral Health?

If you need to have a tooth extracted, you might be focused on how the missing space will affect the appearance of your smile. It’s true that other people are likely to notice a missing tooth, even if it’s a back tooth, which can certainly impact your self-confidence.

But here are a few of the other consequences you might experience:

• Losing bone mass in your jaw – When you lose a tooth, the missing root signals to your body that it doesn’t need to maintain the jawbone that was once there. Over time, your jaw will begin to shrink.
• Changes to your facial structure – Your teeth and jaws support your facial structure. When that support is lost, your face begins to sag and wrinkle, which can add years to your appearance.
• Problems with adjacent teeth – Daily chewing forces are very strong, but they aren’t harmful when they’re distributed evenly across a full complement of teeth. However, when even one tooth is lost, the adjacent teeth become weaker. They’re also at a higher risk of breaking because of the increased load they have to handle.

What’s the Best Solution?

The good news is that there’s hope! Dental implants in Farmington are a great way to replace missing teeth because they have one special feature that sets them apart: They replace the roots of missing teeth.

This replacement root is actually what makes implants feel so strong, sturdy and natural. It also tricks the body into thinking that there’s still a tooth there, so you won’t lose any bone mass in your jaw over time.

Depending on how many teeth are missing, the implant is restored with either a crown or denture that will look and feel very natural.

You may not have realized the impact that losing teeth could have on your oral health. But with such a great replacement option, you might forget that you ever lost teeth in the first place!

About the Author

Dr. Thomas Peters is a native of Farmington and an award-winning general, restorative and cosmetic dentist. When recommending any treatment plan, he always spends time educating patients about the pros and cons so they can make the best decision for their oral health. If you have any questions, he can be reached via his website or at (860) 677-8500.