What Are the Consequences of Missing Teeth?

When we lose a tooth, the first thing that bothers most of us is our appearance and how a missing tooth would interfere with our smile, social life, and other things on similar lines. But losing a tooth has a more severe impact than just a cosmetic issue. Losing one or more teeth can have a range of effects on other teeth in your mouth, along with your overall health.

One can lose a tooth for several reasons, such as poor oral hygiene, trauma, cavities, oral cancer, genetics, and periodontal diseases. The apparent effects of a missing tooth are speech issues, biting ability, and of course, your self-esteem. 

In this article, we will understand some of the most common reasons for losing a tooth, the critical consequences, and how to address them.

Reasons For Missing Teeth

Some of the most common ways a person can lose teeth are outlined below:

• Periodontal disease – Gum infection gives rise to periodontal disease, which could lead to more severe periodontitis in which the infection progresses to the point that it weakens our gums. 

As gums become weaker and weaker, they start separating from our pearly whites, which facilitates the entry of bacteria. If the infection is not treated in time, it will affect the bone surrounding our dentition and cause the eventual loss of a tooth.

• Injury or trauma to the mouth region – A strong blow to our mouth area can rip off our teeth. You could lose part or the whole of your tooth due to an injury to your face. If you have lost only part of a tooth, it is necessary to meet your dentist to evaluate the nerve involvement in the blow.
• Tooth agenesis – Dental agenesis means missing a tooth as it was not adequately developed. It can occur in primary (baby dentition) or permanent (adult) cases. This problem usually happens when the dental epithelium is not able to develop due to lack of space or obstruction. Heredity is the biggest factor for dental agenesis.
• Tooth extraction – Sometimes, your tooth might be so severely infected that the only option is to take it out. This could happen during the initial phase of periodontitis, and to stop the infection from progressing and causing tooth loss, your dentist would extract the affected tooth so that bacteria do not proliferate and prevent bone loss.

What Happens if We Lose One or Several Teeth?

Here are some of the adverse effects of losing a tooth:

• Surrounding teeth start shifting – Every tooth in the mouth exerts constant pressure on both sides of its surrounding teeth. This means that other dentitions in your mouth depend on the support from their adjacent pearly whites. When you lose one tooth, the other teeth on both sides of the gap start drifting inwards to fill the place where the missing tooth used to be. 

If you wait too long to replace a missing tooth, then you could develop crowding issues due to the movement of adjacent dentitions. It could also cause severe misalignment and other cosmetic problems. It also makes brushing more cumbersome and allows bacterial growth.

• Deterioration of jawbone and gum – Anchoring of our teeth in place is heavily dependent on the health of our jawbones and gums. At the same time, our jawbones and gums also depend on our pearly whites for their strength. The tissues in the jawbone and gums are stimulated by the presence of tooth roots in them, aiding our body to continually repair damaged cells. 

If a tooth is missing, there is a lack of stimulation which leads to our body reabsorbing portions of our jawbones and gums and making them weak. This not just accelerates tooth loss but could potentially change your face structure.

Facial collapse occurs when we lose the upper jawbone, which creates an inward curve in our face. When the lower jawbone deteriorates, it causes chin reduction and diminishes the jawline.

• Increases chances of infection – Gum diseases are the most common reason for losing a tooth where your gum tissues deteriorate. Once you lose a tooth, the chances of bacterial infection and losing other teeth also increase. Many factors give rise to increased bacterial activity, such as an empty socket in your mouth can quickly accumulate food particles and bacteria. 

Regular brushing cannot eradicate the bacteria and plaque lying inside these sockets. The roots and sides of the teeth adjacent to the missing tooth are also exposed to bacterial attacks. Through the empty dental socket, bacteria could also reach your bloodstream creating health risks in other parts of your body, such as the heart and lungs.

• Loss of oral functionality – When you have gaps in your dental structure, it affects your bite, and you can develop chewing issues. Due to this, you might not get enough nutrition in your body, making you weak.
• Speech issues – Due to the spaces in your pearly whites, you might have speech problems as you will not be able to pronounce specific phonemes correctly.

What Can I Do About Missing Teeth?

For most cases of missing dentitions, the unanimous solution is dental implants. In some instances, your dentist might also recommend orthodontic treatment.

• Dental implants – The best solution for replacing missing pearly whites are having dental implants that work just like your natural teeth. Your dentist does not need to grind adjacent teeth to place dental implants.
• Implant-supported bridges – If you have many missing dentitions in a row, then an implant-supported bridge is a better option as it requires less number of implants to support an entire row of teeth.
• Removable Dentures – They are an easy and simple solution for missing dentitions and work similarly to dental implants. If you have a few missing teeth, then you can go for removable dentures rather than a complete set of dentures.

Missing teeth pose many dangers not just to your oral health but also to your overall well-being. It is best to replace missing teeth as the earliest. You could talk to your dentist to find an apt option that is best suited for you to replace missing pearly whites.