No matter how you lose a tooth, it affects your smile, chewing efficiency, and ability to speak clearly. Additionally, you likely will experience the shifting of remaining teeth that may cause more complicated problems in the future. However, many options exist today to replace missing teeth that appear and function similar to your natural teeth. Continue reading to discover the choices you have for permanent artificial teeth.
To learn more about how we can help you replace a missing tooth, schedule an appointment with Trident Dental.
Common Causes Of Tooth Loss
Tooth loss can occur instantly or over several years, depending on the cause. There are many reasons you may lose a tooth, including:
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Gum disease. This is the number one cause of tooth loss and occurs over months or years. Bacteria accumulates in the space between the gum and tooth and causes an infection that damages the bone supporting teeth. Eventually, the tooth needs extraction after becoming loose due to the loss of this bone.
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Tooth decay. Dental caries remains a common chronic disease that results in tooth loss without early treatment. While your dentist can repair a cavity if detected early, extensive decay can render a tooth non restorable.
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Accidents. Contact sports, automobile accidents, and falls can break or knock a tooth out permanently.
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Harmful habits. Some personal behaviors can significantly increase your risk of losing a tooth. These habits include grinding your teeth, smoking, and biting on nonfood items such as fingernails or ink pens.
4 Types of Permanent Artificial Teeth
Several factors affect your choices for replacing missing teeth. These include the number of missing teeth, their location in your mouth, and how your teeth fit together when you bite. Below are some of the best types of permanent artificial teeth for various circumstances.
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Dental implants. A dental implant replaces the root of a missing tooth with a surgical procedure. A permanent crown is then placed on the implant. This option offers benefits such as a natural appearance, the preservation of jawbone, easy maintenance, and is long-lasting.
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Dentures. Commonly referred to as false teeth, dentures typically replace all or several missing upper or lower teeth. Complete dentures can replace all upper or lower teeth. In contrast, partial dentures typically offer a removable replacement for several missing teeth. The advantages of dentures include being removable, easy to maintain, supporting facial features, requiring no surgery, and being cost effective.
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Implant-supported bridges. Implant-supported bridges can replace several adjacent missing teeth without using a removable partial denture. These have many advantages, such as superior stability, jawbone preservation, future bone loss prevention, no dietary restrictions, no slippage while speaking, and superior aesthetics and function.
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Tooth-supported bridges. If you have one, or a couple, of missing teeth between two natural teeth, you can benefit from a bridge between the retained teeth. This treatment includes the placement of permanent crowns on the natural teeth. The permanent artificial teeth are joined with these crowns for a permanently bonded solution for the missing teeth.
How To Prevent Tooth Loss
Although you can’t prevent all tooth loss, such as those occurring due to trauma, you can decrease the risk of many tooth extractions. You can do this by:
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Brushing your teeth at least twice each day for two minutes with a soft-bristled toothbrush.
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Flossing your teeth at least once each day.
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Wearing a custom-made nightguard if you grind your teeth at night.
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Wearing a mouthguard while participating in contact sports.
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Having regular dental checkups and professional teeth cleanings.
Schedule Appointment
At Trident Dental, we are committed to your oral health and helping you have a bright and beautiful smile. Contact us to learn the best option for replacing a missing tooth and how to keep your teeth and gums healthy.