Restoring Your Smile
Missing teeth can cause your mouth to sag, your teeth to move, and your face to look older. If you are missing one or more teeth, we recommend replacing these teeth with a fixed bridge, removable partial denture, or surgically inserting a dental implant.
The effects of missing teeth can be detrimental to your long term oral and overall health. Missing teeth can cause your mouth to sag, your teeth to move, and your face to look older than you are. Replacing missing teeth can dramatically improve your smile and shape of your face. This can enhance your dental health and self-esteem.
Bad Bite Relationship
Having gaps where teeth are missing affects the way the jaw closes. The remaining teeth begin to tilt and drift into the gaps. In addition, food can become trapped in these spaces, increasing the risk of decay and gum disease. The tilting and drifting can also cause problems for the opposing teeth. An opposing tooth will begin to hyper-erupt and begin to drift into the open space of the missing tooth, causing the opposing jaw-line to have bite relationship problems; thus beginning TMJ problems (problems with the jaw joint).
As soon as a tooth is lost, either from gum disease or an extraction, the supporting bone in the jaw begins to dissolve. This process is called resorption. The longer a tooth is missing, the greater the bone loss.
Over time, resorption of the jawbone has a considerable effect on quality of life and on the possibility of replacing the missing teeth. As teeth are lost it becomes more difficult to eat and chew food. Overall health is therefore dramatically affected as diet is altered, and over time, more and more of the jaw bone disintegrates until it becomes very difficult to place any dental restoration.
Options available if you are missing one or more teeth:
- Dental Implant
- Fixed Bridge
- Removable Partial Denture
Dr. Britt and Dr. Forestier will help guide and determine which treatment option is best for you.