Impact of Tooth Loss on Overall Health

Over time, the teeth can begin to wear and tear. The reasons may be many but the top one is inadequate oral hygiene. Now, if you have got the tooth restoration, you need to keep in mind that every type of restoration comes with certain pitfalls or limitations. For instance, there is a risk of development of dark margins around the borders of the fillings. These dark margins mean that there is a micro-leakage. This leakage can lead to tooth decay and even the need of tooth extraction.

The necessity of tooth extraction occurs when tooth structure is too weak to support a crown or other type of restoration. Bone loss and periodontal disease may also be the reasons for the need of tooth extraction.

Tooth extraction

There are many adverse reactions that you can expect after the tooth loss which is not treated with a viable restoration. The first reaction comes in the form of change in the facial structure. Even if you haven’t lost a tooth, the facial structure changes with the aging.After lost tooth, the structure can change quite drastically.

Another factor which can be detrimental to oral and overall health is the bone loss. The bone loss occurs due to the lack of that stimulation which remains there due to the presence of a tooth root. After tooth loss or extraction, the socket starts to regenerate. This regeneration can change the structure of the surrounding bone.

Loss of one tooth can trigger the loss of many

One thing worth mentioning here is that the loss of one tooth, for whatever the reason, can lead to the loss of many other teeth in the mouth. This is mainly due to the lost support for the neighboring teeth. Furthermore, the jawbone beneath the area of lost tooth can start deteriorating. As a result, other teeth start to shift to the area of lost tooth. This shifting can weaken the teeth and, so, the risk for tooth loss is intensified.

The alternatives to consider

The ideal solution to deal with the tooth loss is to get dental implant.A dental implant consists of a titanium post which serves as the tooth root, an abutment, and a crown which is fixed on the top.  The best thing about this restoration is that it prevents the changes in facial structure because it provides necessary stimulation to the jawbone.That’s because of the fact that an implant actively stops the shifting of neighboring teeth.

If there is a significant bone loss that makes it impossible for an implant to be properly inserted, the dentist may choose bone grafting first.