The complicated thing about some oral health concerns is that the specific threats they pose aren’t always immediately obvious, or even noticeable. For example, when you develop gum disease, the condition mainly affects your gum tissues, and symptoms mostly develop in these tissues. Yet, the consequences can affect much more of your oral health, making it the leading cause of tooth loss. Similarly, the loss of a tooth can lead to various conditions beyond the empty space in your smile, and many of the consequences don’t become noticeable until they become severe. Today, we explore several different ways in which tooth loss can impact your oral health beyond the obvious appearance of your smile, and why these consequences are important to address as soon as possible.
The reactions among your other teeth
Your teeth are responsible for absorbing an enormous amount of pressure every time you bite and chew. When healthy, they have several different means of successfully absorbing this pressure without sustaining any damage, including the highly resilient enamel that surrounds them. Your teeth also rely on each other, providing each other with support as they’re exposed to your bite’s pressure. When you lose a tooth, the teeth that are nearest to it lose this support, which can lead to one or more of them shifting out of place. Over time, this can cause them to become damaged, or more vulnerable to infection by harmful oral bacteria.
The impact to your smile’s foundation
Every aspect of your oral health is connected in several important ways, including your teeth and their roots. For instance, your teeth roots not only support your teeth when you bite and chew, but also help sustain the integrity of your jawbone structure. This bone structure requires stimulation to receive an ample supply of minerals and nutrients, and this stimulation is provided by your teeth roots. Losing one or more teeth and their roots results in diminished stimulation in your jawbone, causing your smile’s foundation to lose mass and density over time.
The long-term state of your oral health
The culmination of effects that result from the loss of your healthy, natural tooth structure can significantly impact the immediate and long-term health of your smile. When the loss isn’t addressed promptly, these effects can lead to a heightened risk of experiencing even more severe oral health concerns, including the loss of one or more teeth in the future. The most effective way to prevent this is to replace a lost tooth as soon as possible. For many patients, the best solution is a custom-designed restoration that’s supported by a lifelike dental implant post, which can be designed to replace the lost root of your tooth.
Learn how to mitigate the impacts of tooth loss
Losing a tooth impacts your smile and oral health in more ways than you may realize, and the effects can be substantial if you don’t restore your smile as soon as possible. To learn more, contact our office by calling Syosset Dental in Syosset, NY, today at 516-433-2211 or 516-921-1678.
