Why Missing Teeth Aren't Just an Aesthetic Issue

Missing teeth can definitely make it hard to feel confident about the appearance of your smile. A shining, bright, and properly aligned smile radiates health and vitality, and is among the first things people notice about you. But when it comes to missing teeth, looks are only the tip of the iceberg. There are far more serious dental health outcomes that should factor into your treatment planning. 

At Periodontist of Weston, we offer a number of permanent solutions for missing teeth. Whether you’re missing one or all of your natural teeth, our team helps patients from Weston, Miramar, Cooper City, or Pembroke Pines, Florida, find treatment options that can last a lifetime. 

Here’s why missing teeth are more than just a matter of aesthetics.

Missing teeth create structural instability

Your teeth are aligned in upper and lower curved arches. Each tooth provides support to the teeth on either side, working in conjunction with your bone and gum tissues to create a strong, healthy bite. 

When you lose a tooth, that stability becomes threatened. The adjacent teeth no longer have the support they need, and can begin to shift out of alignment. Over time, this can cause multiple teeth to shift, altering your bite (the way your upper and lower teeth fit together when you bite down or chew).

This can cause damage to your teeth due to excess stress and strain while eating. It can also weaken the connection between your teeth and bone, causing additional tooth loss. 

The link between bone health and tooth loss

Each of your natural teeth is secured in place by a strong connection between your tooth’s root and your jawbone. Your bone is living tissue and requires ongoing stimulation to remain healthy and strong. 

When you bite down, you create pressure that stimulates the bone in your jaw, promoting new bone development and allowing your jawbone to thrive. Losing a tooth means losing that stimulation, and the underlying bone can begin to wear away. This is called resorption, and as you lose more and more bone, the connection between adjacent teeth and bone can weaken to the point that you lose even more teeth. 

Missing teeth complicate nutrition

Staying healthy requires consuming a wide variety of healthy, whole foods. This includes many tough or fibrous foods, like nuts, seeds, crunchy vegetables, and animal products. But when you don’t have a full arch of upper and lower teeth, chewing becomes more difficult. 

One of the most overlooked negative impacts of missing teeth is the changes people make in their diet to accommodate their dental health needs. When you avoid certain foods because they’re too difficult to chew, you limit your diet, which can lead to nutritional deficiencies. 

How to take action to replace missing teeth

Once you’ve decided to move forward with tooth replacement, you have a few choices to make. Dentures are one way to go, offering a fast and affordable track to a restored smile. But dentures only address the aesthetic and functional issues of missing teeth; they do nothing to support your bone health. 

Dental implants are the only tooth replacement option that functions just like your natural teeth. Because they’re anchored directly within your jawbone, they maintain bone health over time, reducing the risk of losing additional teeth or developing that “caved-in” or “sunken” appearance of your lower jaw, yet another outcome of missing teeth. 

Learning more about dental implants is the best way to begin. You can contact our team members at Periodontist of Weston online or over the phone to book a consultation and have all your questions about dental implants answered.