Does Your Smile Have Gaps?
Let’s face it, losing a permanent tooth is embarrassing. Even when a tooth is lost for reasons outside of dental health, there are significant, far-reaching consequences. It can be hard to know what to do next.
Keep reading to learn more!
The Missing Tooth Timeline
Once a tooth goes missing, it sets a lot of changes in motion, and those changes can be hard to stop if the tooth isn’t replaced. Here’s a rough timeline of what to expect if you lose a tooth:
- After having too many tough pieces of food poke at your exposed gum, you start to favor one side of your mouth while chewing. This puts uneven pressure on your teeth.
- Newly exposed gum, being tender and sensitive, gets avoided during your brushing and flossing routines, creating an opening for gum disease.
- Your teeth slowly start drifting out of alignment, creating noticeable gaps between more of your teeth and a notably crooked smile.
- Your front teeth, having drifted out of alignment, start affecting your ability to pronounce key consonant sounds like f-, v-, and th-. If the tooth that you lost was a front tooth, this happened early in the timeline.
- Your jaw begins to shrink due to insufficient support from your teeth and your uneven chewing patterns.
- The increased gum disease risk starts to affect your remaining teeth and also increases the risk of tooth decay.
- Misaligned, unevenly worn, and decaying teeth become loose and sensitive. You lose more teeth.
All Is Not Lost!
We believe you deserve a smile you can be proud to show. Thankfully, there are numerous options for restorative dentistry that will mitigate the long-term effects of tooth loss. Contact our office located in Meridian, ID to learn more about tooth replacement, including dental implants, dental bridges, and dentures. We’re here to help you!
If you have any gaps in your smile, call today to schedule a consultation with our expert cosmetic and restorative dentistry team. You will soon be on your way to a gorgeous smile!
