When a tooth is gone, its natural roots are no longer embedded in your jawbone and bone loss can occur. In addition, the void caused by the missing tooth can change the shape of your mouth, which puts the neighboring teeth and gums at risk of tooth decay. There are many Problems Caused By Missing Teeth!
What options do you have for filling the tooth gap?
If you’re looking to fill that gap in your teeth, you have a number of dental options. Which one you choose generally depends on how many spaces you need to fill.
Dental implants
If you just have one or two spaces, you’ll probably want to go with a dental implant. Though implants have been traced back as far as 600 AD, the modern procedure is only about 30 years old.
The first step in creating the implant in drilling a titanium screw into your jawbone. Over the next six months or so, the screw fuses with the bone, acting like a tooth root. In fact, dental implants are the only restoration option that not only preserves natural bone, but actually helps to stimulate its growth.
Once the screw has fused, the dentist places a crown, attached by an abutment, over the top. It’s shaded to look just like your natural teeth that surround it, so no one will know the difference.
Bridges and partial dentures
If you have more than one missing tooth, your dentist can close — or bridge — the gaps with dental bridges, which are held in place by the teeth on both sides of the space. The procedure involves shaving away part of the adjacent teeth, and the constant rubbing of the bridge can exacerbate that, so their lifetime is only about 7-10 years. Still, they’re made of shaded porcelain, so they look like natural teeth.
It is important to clean your bridge or partial denture as you would your natural teeth, because plaque and bacteria can collect under the bridge material, causing gum problems and leading to the loss of more teeth.
Are you missing teeth and want to know what your options are to maintain good oral and general health? Give us a call – You have options and why settle for less when you can have the best technology available at Dean Cosmetic Dentistry – 865-539-1119 Dean Cosmetic Dentistry is focused on delivering the highest quality level of dental care, while offering an exceptional personalized experience. We believe in combining state-of-the-art dental technology with proven dental treatment and techniques, in order to offer our patients the absolute best technology available and the best care, that is both cost-effective, and time efficient.
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