Danger of Missing Teeth for a Long Time
What is the danger of missing teeth for a long time?
Tooth loss can happen for many reasons and at any age. But statistics show that only a small percentage of people go to the doctor to solve this problem.
What are the dangers of missing teeth?
Most people go to the dentist only when they cannot bear the pain due to tooth damage. Often such a story ends with tooth extraction, which is very unfortunate.
On the one hand, there are deterrent factors, such as negative dental experiences in the past, fear of pain and discomfort, high cost of treatment, etc.
Because of this, people sometimes postpone dental consultation until the last minute.
The main focus of modern dentistry is the preservation of one’s own teeth, but at the age of 15-40 years, 60% of people have at least one tooth removed. (“Prevalence and intensity of defects and secondary deformations of the dentition in the age group of 15-40 years.” (Georgian medical news)
In this article, you will learn scientifically proven facts about the causes of tooth loss and the risks associated with tooth loss.
Cause of tooth loss:
It can be primary, when the tooth germ was not initially formed and neither milk nor permanent teeth erupted.
The absence of a tooth is called adentia. In addition to primary adentia, there is secondary adentia – tooth loss due to caries, pulpitis, trauma, gum disease, tobacco use, etc.
What problems can tooth loss cause?
Scientists and doctors identify the following problems that arise after tooth loss:
Uneven distribution of chewing load on the teeth, violation of occlusion.
After a tooth is removed, neighboring teeth begin to shift towards the void. The arrangement of the dentition changes, the teeth are overloaded due to the uneven distribution of the chewing load. As a result, a problem appears in the masticatory muscles – spasm, headache, and tooth wear.
Periodontal pocket
The inclination of the teeth towards the space created by the extracted tooth (Hodon’s phenomenon) contributes to the formation of a periodontal pocket – a weakening of the structure of the attachment of the tooth to the pulp, which begins with inflammation and leads to loss of bone tissue. Sometimes the gums around a tooth are so loose that the tooth becomes loose and must be removed.
If this does not happen, the space between the teeth decreases over time and creates an unfavorable environment for dental implantation. There is not enough space to install the dental implant. In this case, it becomes necessary to straighten the teeth using braces to restore the space between the teeth. This requires additional time and the involvement of another specialist.
Bone tissue atrophy
The degree of bone tissue atrophy is determined by its biotype. There are 4 biotypes in total: D1, D2, D3, D4.
Atrophy is a decrease in bone volume. This process begins immediately after tooth extraction and proceeds quickly during the first 4-8 weeks and then slows down.
The first two forms of bone biotype (D1, D2) are characterized by a stronger, denser structure. In the case of this type of bone, simultaneous dental implantation with immediate loading is justified.
Types D3 and D4 are relatively soft and spongy bones. In this case, dental implantation is carried out in two stages. The advantage of this type of bone is that it is less susceptible to atrophy.
Why is bone atrophy undesirable? Because if dental implantation is necessary, then the bone resource is insufficient and it has to be increased artificially (via bone graft).
Changes of the appearance
The loss of teeth changes the oval of the face, the nasolabial fold stands out and the edges of the lips droop, the height of one third of the face decreases, which gives the face an aged appearance.
Disruption of the gastrointestinal system
Associated with incomplete processing of food in the oral cavity. Often the chewing teeth are the first to be lost. In order to chew food easily, a person chooses soft food, which negatively affects the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and chewing muscles, and self-cleaning of the teeth does not occur.
Methods for restoring missing teeth:
Depending on the current clinical condition and abilities of the patient, there are several methods that might be used at modern dental clinic.
Dental Implantation
Dental Implantation – implantation of an artificial root in place of an extracted tooth. Today this is the most reliable and durable method.
Prosthetics
Prosthetics is the restoration of the functional and aesthetic purpose of missing teeth with an orthopedic design. There are removable and fixed dentures.
Fixed prosthesis
If only one tooth is missing, a so-called bridge is made. This design is fixed on adjacent teeth. It is a structure of several artificial crowns in the form of a bridge.
Making a bridge is justified if the neighboring teeth of the lost tooth are not in a very favorable condition – previously treated, large caries, thin enamel, pulpless tooth. In case of restoration of teeth using the bridge method, the supporting teeth must be occluded.
If the teeth are healthy, then this method should not be used. In this case, implantation is the best solution.
If most of the teeth are missing, then one can make:
Dental Implantation
Prosthetics on implants can be made (All-on-4, All-in-6) – 4 or 6 implants are attached to a completely toothless jaw, and then conditionally removable or fixed structure is installed on it.
Bugel prosthesis
Bugel prosthesis is the case where teeth are attached to a metal arch.
Elastic prosthesis
Plastic plate prosthesis, which is not as reliable, but more affordable.
To sum up, modern dentistry offers many ways to restore missing teeth with artificial one, but we always welcome works to preserve patient’s own teeth.
Most dental problems can be solved in two main ways:
- Regular, scheduled visits to the dental clinic once every 6 months;
- Professional teeth cleaning regularly, once every 6 months and in some cases even more regular, based on the organism specifics.
