Each Tooth Has A Beneficial Role To Other Teeth

Posted on Aug 31, 2015 by William J. Claiborne, DDS MS

Imagine a chair. It is designed with four legs to ensure the chair seat has a sturdy foundation. Yes, you could sit in a chair with a missing leg, but its stability would be far less. Plus, the pressure would be greater on the three remaining legs, weakening their strength over time. Eventually, one of the legs will crack or loosen from its attachment to the seat, soon followed by the other legs.

This is a good illustration for your teeth. Each one has importance to the other teeth in your mouth. For example, when one tooth is lost and not replaced, the open space no longer serves as an abutment to the tooth above or below. The teeth on both sides are also left without a bolstering neighbor. This gap enables neighboring teeth to move out of their proper positions.

Because an open space allows a tooth above or below to grow longer or the teeth on each side to tilt, a long list of problems is then set into motion. The teeth that grow longer or tilt typically cause chips, cracks or fractures to other teeth since the bite is now out of alignment. A tooth that fractures below the gum line will require removal.

Bite misalignment also leads to worn teeth since it triggers night-time grinding. Clenching during sleep can also occur, creating frequent headaches or migraines, sore jaw joints, pain in facial and neck muscles, ear ringing and difficulty opening the mouth.

The open space from the missing tooth leads to yet another ordeal. Without natural tooth roots in the jaw, the bone that once held the root begins to shrink. As the bone in this area declines in mass, bordering tooth roots are now vulnerable to a thinning foundation of bone. It is a fact that a missing tooth makes an adjacent tooth the most likely to be lost next.

So, add all these issues together and you have a whopping number of dental repairs and costs ahead. What’s the wisest move when a tooth is lost? Replacing a missing tooth with a Dental Implant restores the presence of a tooth root in the jaw bone. This halts the potential for bone loss. The replaced tooth also helps surrounding teeth to hold their proper positions, greatly reducing the potential for chips, cracks and the many problems associated with bite misalignment.

Although Dental Implants are more expensive, the costs are upfront. Dental Implants do not decay and are designed to last your lifetime. Implants also have one of the highest success rates of all implant-in-bone treatments. Too, unlike a crown-&-bridge combination, you won’t have continued bone loss or need otherwise healthy natural teeth crowned for the sole purpose of supporting a replacement tooth. Overall, they are a far better investment than any form of tooth replacement option.

Before you make a final decision on tooth replacement (for one or more missing teeth), call us at (828) 274-9440. We will explain the process and advantages of Dental Implants so you can make the decision that is best for your individual situation.