Suppose that you are missing one of your back teeth. Although this is not ideal, you may think that because the gap isn’t visible and you’re still able to chew and speak, there’s no pressing need for it to be replaced. Unfortunately, that would be incorrect. At Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania, some of our patients require extensive reconstruction due to the loss of bone structure around missing teeth. To help you avoid this, we wanted to say a bit about why you should replace teeth as soon as possible.
Our teeth are held in place by ligaments. When a tooth is lost, the supporting ligaments and muscles will atrophy, and no longer pull on the jaw bone. This causes the jaw bone to recede, as well, and it’s common for the section of jaw bone that supported a missing tooth to lose 25% of its width in the first year after the tooth’s loss. With less jaw bone tissue, it’s common for the remaining teeth to shift place, making it harder to chew and putting more pressure on the temporomandibular joints that connect the jaw to the head. If a person compensates for missing molars by chewing with their front teeth, their incisors may be pushed outward, causing the face to shrink vertically.
We offer dental implants for missing molars, but if the patient has lost jaw bone tissue, they may require a bone graft before receiving an implant. Another option is an implant-supported denture, which will help stabilize the jaw bone and stimulate new tissue growth.
Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania operate in Philadelphia, Folsom, and Clifton Heights. Visit Oral Surgery PA.
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