When certain teeth go missing, it may seem preferable to simply let it go. Particularly when that missing tooth is out of sight, it can be very easy to put it right out of your mind! If it isn’t causing any trouble, why go to the expense and energy of fixing it, right? But the fact is, there is damage done by missing teeth that may be imperceptible in one moment of time but that adds up in ways that can threaten the health of your existing teeth, bite pattern, and even bone health over time. For this reason, it is of the utmost importance to always replace a missing tooth. If you don’t, you could end up with some or all of the following ramifications!
Crooked, Crowded, or Unevenly Spaced Teeth
While we don’t often think about teeth as relying upon the teeth next to them to keep them in place, it is true that a sudden gap in a row of teeth can open the door to a whole domino effect of moving and shifting to fill the void. Because this happens slowly over time, you may not notice at first, but within a matter of months it can become quite apparent that other teeth have started to take over the space that was formerly occupied by a missing tooth. Depending on how the teeth move and shift, this can lead to crooked, crowded, or unevenly spaced teeth; not what you signed up for when you decided to ignore that single missing tooth!
Bite Pattern Changes and Damaged Teeth
As teeth move into new spaces in the mouth, bite pattern – the way that teeth come together when you close your jaw – can begin to change. In some cases, this can lead to teeth coming together in problematic ways, which can wear down the hard enamel that covers your teeth and even lead to chips and fractures. In attempting to compensate for this problem, one might begin to hold or even clench their jaw in a certain way; this is often done unconsciously. Over time, this can cause significant damage to your teeth and even cause problems with your jaw if clenching and grinding become an ongoing issue.
Decreased Bone Health and Impacted Facial Appearance
While changes in one’s teeth are the first thing to be noticed when a missing tooth is not replaced, these are not the only changes that are taking place. Under the surface of the gumline, the jawbone itself is also impacted in a negative way when a tooth goes missing; absent the stimulation that dental roots provide to the hard tissues that comprise the jaw, healthy bone mass can begin to decline. Not only does this threaten the viability of other teeth supported by the jaw, it can also have a notable effect on facial appearance, causing the kind of sunken in appearance around the jaw that often sets in quickly for those who are edentulous (without teeth).
For all of these reasons and more, it is of the utmost importance to replace teeth as soon after they go missing as possible. Luckily for those who find themselves in this position, there is no shortage of good replacement options today – for more information and which might be best for you, call a trusted dentist today.