Dealing with tooth loss can be disconcerting, especially if the loss of the tooth was unexpected. You may not know what it means for your smile’s future, or what you should do next to preserve your oral health and prevent any further complications. After experiencing tooth loss, the next steps you take can help determine how severely the loss impacts your long-term oral health. The more you know about those potential impacts, the better chance you can have at avoiding them by dealing with your tooth loss as soon as possible.
The cause behind losing the tooth
Once you experience tooth loss, the cause of it might be obvious. For example, if you lost the tooth to accidental trauma, then you likely noticed the moment it occurred. If a tooth you know has been decayed or damaged for a while falls out or requires extraction, then part of you may have expected that might be a risk. However, for some people, losing a tooth or being told that they have to have one extracted can come as a surprise. More importantly, it can impact the course they take in rebuilding their smiles, as chronic conditions that cause tooth loss (like gum disease) can continue affecting your oral health long afterward.
What happens when you ignore it
Some of the most obvious impacts of tooth loss can also seem like the worse consequences of it. For example, your smile’s appearance and your bite’s overall function can both be impacted by tooth loss, reminding you of the loss every day. Such impacts may be more noticeable, but they aren’t necessarily the biggest concerns following tooth loss. For example, your remaining natural teeth can react to the gap in your smile by shifting toward it to make up for the imbalance. Your jawbone can also lose mass and density after losing teeth roots and some of the stimulation they used to provide.
What to consider when replacing it
The longer you ignore tooth loss, the greater the consequences on your oral health, which is why replacing lost teeth as soon as possible is essential to preserving your smile. When it comes to rebuilding your smile, it’s important to consider more than just your smile’s appearance, but also the vital functions of your teeth that have been impacted by their loss. For many people, that includes the effects of lost teeth roots, which can be addressed with the help of one or more dental implant posts that can support your restoration with optimal comfort.
Find out how to address your tooth loss
Tooth loss is different for everyone, from the cause of it to the best way to address it. To learn more, or to schedule an appointment, call Lake Orion Family Dentistry in Lake Orion, MI, today at 248-693-6213.
