Missing teeth are more than just a cosmetic concern. They also lead to several consequences to your dental health, including the weakening of surrounding teeth, a higher risk of plaque build-up, and bite problems.
Dr. Matthew Jenne sees patients with missing teeth and creates personalized treatment plans for replacing missing teeth at Garner Family and Cosmetic Dentistry.
Why Replace Missing Teeth?
Replacing missing teeth is more than just a cosmetic decision. It’s essential in maintaining oral health, overall well-being, and confidence. Whether you’ve lost a tooth due to injury, decay, or another reason, many compelling reasons exist to explore replacement options like dental implants, bridges, or dentures.
Protect Your Oral Health
When you lose a tooth, it creates a gap in your smile. This gap can cause neighboring teeth to shift out of place over time. Misaligned teeth can make it harder to clean your mouth properly, increasing the risk of cavities and gum disease. Replacing the missing tooth helps keep your remaining teeth in their proper positions, preserving the alignment of your bite and preventing further oral health problems.
Missing teeth can also lead to bone loss in your jaw. Your jawbone needs stimulation from your teeth to stay healthy and strong. Without a tooth in place, the bone in that area begins to shrink, which can weaken the structure of your jaw and alter the shape of your face. Dental implants, in particular, help prevent bone loss by mimicking the natural root of a tooth and stimulating the jawbone.
Improve Your Appearance
A missing tooth can affect the way your smile looks, which can impact your confidence and self-esteem. Many people feel embarrassed or self-conscious about gaps in their teeth, especially when talking, eating, or smiling. Replacing a missing tooth restores the natural appearance of your smile, helping you feel more comfortable and confident in social and professional situations.
Beyond your smile, missing teeth can change the shape of your face. Losing jawbone and support can cause your cheeks to appear sunken or your face to look older. Replacing the tooth helps maintain your facial structure and prevents premature aging.
Enhance Your Ability to Eat and Speak
Each tooth in your mouth plays an important role in chewing and speaking. Losing a tooth can make it harder to eat certain foods, especially crunchy or tough items. Over time, you might avoid these foods, which can limit your diet and affect your nutrition. Replacing missing teeth restores your ability to chew properly, allowing you to enjoy a wider variety of foods and maintain a healthy diet.
Missing teeth can also impact the way you speak. Gaps in your teeth can affect your pronunciation, making it harder to say certain words clearly. This can lead to frustration or embarrassment. Replacing the tooth improves your speech and ensures you can communicate effectively and confidently.
Prevent Additional Dental Issues
A missing tooth can put extra strain on your remaining teeth. When one tooth is lost, the others must work harder to handle the same amount of pressure, which can lead to wear and tear over time. Replacing the missing tooth balances the workload across all your teeth, preventing unnecessary stress and damage.
Additionally, gaps in your teeth can become traps for food particles and bacteria, increasing the risk of gum disease and tooth decay. Filling the gap with a replacement tooth makes it easier to keep your mouth clean and healthy.
Boost Your Confidence and Quality of Life
Replacing missing teeth isn’t just about functionality—it’s also about feeling good about yourself. A complete smile can improve your self-esteem and make you feel more at ease in social settings. Whether it’s a job interview, a family gathering, or a first date, having a full set of teeth can help you make a positive impression and feel more confident.
Beyond confidence, replacing missing teeth improves your overall quality of life. It allows you to eat, speak, and smile without hesitation, helping you enjoy everyday activities to the fullest.
Replacing A Single Lost Tooth
It’s important not to procrastinate when replacing a single tooth. After suffering from a single tooth loss, your other teeth begin to shift their position around the newly empty space. This increases your risk of tooth crowding, gap formation, and changes in the fit of the bite.
Dr. Jenne offers customized restorative treatment plans for replacing your missing tooth, including dental bridges, dentures, and dental implants.
Dental bridges typically involve the placing of crowns on the surrounding teeth of the empty space and then the placement of a false tooth between them to bridge the gap and prevent further shifting. Dental implants involve surgically mounting a small post into your jaw to secure a false tooth.
You will need a thorough evaluation to determine which treatment option is best for your oral health. We recommend making an appointment as soon as possible following the tooth loss.
Replacing A Full Arch of Teeth
Our team is committed to restoring your smile and your dental health. If you’re in need of a full-mouth restoration, Dr. Jenne can work with you to determine the best way to restore your smile.
A combination of treatments may be recommended to meet both oral health and cosmetic needs, giving you back a smile that is beautiful, healthy, and functional.
Some of our full arch teeth replacement solutions involve:
- Tooth extraction procedures
- Custom dentures
- Partial dentures
- Implant dentures
Often, for our full arch teeth replacement patients, we are able to offer durable full arch dentures that can be permanently secured through dental implants. This allows your smile to look as natural as possible.
Regardless of your course of treatment, our team will ensure that you are able to speak, chew, and smile comfortably afterward with a brand-new set of restored teeth!
Missing Teeth FAQs
Missing teeth can lead to serious oral health effects. Learn more by reading the answers to these commonly asked questions.
Can I get a denture for one tooth?
Patients may get a denture for one tooth. This is known as a single tooth or partial denture. These are very common procedures that are used to fix one missing or broken tooth.
What is the best option for a missing front tooth?
The most commonly chosen option to repair or replace a missing front tooth is dental implants. Dental implants are a permanent replacement for your missing tooth. They are strong and function similarly to your natural teeth. Crowns attached to dental implants can also be color-matched so that they aesthetically match the rest of your smile.
Can you live with a missing tooth?
Patients can live with a missing tooth. However, most dentists strongly recommend replacing them. There are many issues associated with having a missing tooth. Teeth may shift, patients may struggle to eat, chew, and speak and jaw bone structure may change due to gaps.
What happens if I do not replace a missing tooth?
Not replacing a lost tooth for an extended period of time might lead to complications like crowding, tooth shifting, and gum recession. As teeth shift to fill open space they put excess pressure on the gums which may cause irritation.
Are dental implants painful?
Dental implants are the most common way to restore or replace damaged teeth or lost teeth. Your dentist will sedate you with local or general anesthetic for the procedure, so it is usually completely painless! After sedation wears off patients report a mild tender pain, which is normal after any surgery.
How many teeth can a bridge replace?
A dental bridge can replace a single tooth or a whole row of teeth. Bridges typically replace one to four teeth, depending on the needs of the patient.
Does having missing teeth affect your health?
Heart disease, diabetes, and kidney disease have been linked to missing teeth. Gum disease can spread to other parts of the body more quickly. To keep harmful bacteria away, you must maintain a good oral care routine and remove any plaque or bacteria that is present.
Can missing teeth give you headaches?
Missing teeth may be the cause of migraines and headaches. They may cause teeth to crowd causing excess pressure in the jaw and facial muscles, resulting in headaches.