The Importance of Replacing a Missing Tooth after Oral Injury
If you have lost one or more of your natural teeth due to an oral injury, it is extremely important that you have those teeth replaced as soon as possible, and not simply for cosmetic reasons. While it is true that missing teeth affect the aesthetics of your smile, they also trigger responses in your body that can affect your oral health and, indeed, your whole-body health. Fortunately, Dental Solutions offers a comprehensive range of restorative dentistry options designed to return full form, function, and health to mouths that are missing one, several, or even all of their natural teeth.
Before recommending a treatment plan to address oral injury and tooth loss at their Warsaw, IN cosmetic, restorative, and general dentistry practice, Drs. William B. Stofer and Jason D. Hemphill first evaluate a patient’s mouth to determine the condition of the gums and the jawbone. While it is never too late to replace missing teeth, the amount of time that passes between tooth loss and tooth replacement will affect the condition of a patient’s oral health and therefore the patient’s optimal treatment plan.
If you are currently missing one or more of your natural teeth due to an oral injury, do not wait any longer to seek treatment. Contact Dental Solutions to schedule your initial consultation with Dr. Stofer or Dr. Hemphill today.
How Your Body Responds to the Loss of a Tooth
If you have lost one or more of your teeth, you are probably already aware of the cosmetic and functional problems associated with tooth loss. However, you may not yet be familiar with the full range of health problems that tooth loss can cause.
When you lose a tooth, your body immediately becomes aware of that loss, interpreting it as a signal that the gums and underlying jawbone tissue that once supported that tooth are essentially “dead weight” - that is, they no longer perform any essential function in the body. Since the body’s resources are limited, those resources no longer need to be delivered to those no-longer essential tissues. As a result, the gums and jawbone in the area around the now-missing tooth begin to recede.
Of course, those tissues actually do perform a vital function; they help to maintain the structural integrity of the mouth, including the jaw, the alignment of the teeth, and the bite. As these local tissues degrade, these larger structures are also affected, causing a variety of oral health problems.
By replacing the missing tooth, many of these adverse consequences can be halted. Patients who choose to have the missing tooth replaced by a dental implant will find their oral health fully restored. This is because dental implants are made of titanium, which the body does not recognize as a foreign substance. When dental implants are surgically embedded into the jawbone, where they act as artificial tooth roots for dental crowns, bridges, or even full sets of dentures, the body halts the degradation process that begins when teeth are lost.
Learn More about Oral Injury and Tooth Loss
To learn more about oral injury and tooth loss, please contact Dental Solutions today.