How Losing Just One Tooth Hurts Your Other Teeth
If you've lost a tooth, you probably aren't too happy about it. Losing a tooth can alter the way you feel about your smile and make eating a little tougher. However, it could come as a surprise to learn that with one tooth gone, your remaining teeth could suffer for it. Read on to discover the three ways a missing tooth could harm your other teeth.
Misalignment
Even into adulthood, teeth can become misaligned fairly easily. When you lose a tooth, the teeth surrounding it on either side tend to push inward towards the space where the other tooth once was. The root of your tooth is no longer there, so it isn't keeping its neighboring teeth in the places they should be. Also, when you eat or bite down, you may be putting a strain on those two surrounding teeth, which can cause them to move from where they should be.
Excessive Stress
Having one or more missing teeth can easily cause unwanted excessive stress on your remaining teeth.
Teeth are designed to distribute pressure evenly among them when you bite and chew. When a tooth goes missing, the other teeth have to pick up the slack. Over time, excessive pressure can wear teeth down, making them shorter and breaking down the protective enamel that keeps them from decaying. You may also develop toothaches and nerve pain as a result if the surrounding teeth are damaged enough.
Bone Loss
Lastly, losing just one tooth can potentially cause you to lose bone in your jaw and potentially other teeth, as well.
As previously stated, teeth are designed to deal with a certain level of pressure. When you bite down, that pressure is transferred into the bone that supports all of your teeth. The pressure then stimulates the bone to create new, replacement cells, which makes your jaw stronger.
When a tooth is lost, you can lose up to 25% of your jaw bone density in the surrounding area. Without treatment, this can worsen even further, and the other teeth won't have the strong bone they need keeping them in place. From there, it can cascade and cause you to lose more teeth and weakening your jaw even more.
If you're missing a tooth, it's best to get it replaced as quickly as you can with the most tooth-like substitute: dental implants. If you've had a missing tooth for a while, contact a dentist right away to begin the process of replacing it and saving your surrounding teeth and jaw from trouble.
Contact a law office like Stone & Johnson Dental Group for more information and assistance.