Why Replace Missing Teeth?

Most of us, at some stage in our lives, are going to be told that a tooth (or teeth!) needs extracting. This is usually due to decay, gum disease, infection or trauma.

When the tooth is at the front of the mouth, it needs to be replaced for obvious reasons – appearance, confidence and self-esteem. Many studies have shown people with missing front teeth smile awkwardly or not at all and subconsciously put their hands up to cover their mouth.

If the tooth to be extracted is further back in the mouth and not so visible, less importance is given to it and many people are quite happy not to replace it. This, however, leads to more subtle problems, which are exacerbated when several back teeth are missing:

• loss of support for the facial muscles making people look older than they are.
• increased pressure on the remaining teeth when chewing making them more prone to fracturing.
• poor digestion.
• tilting of teeth around the missing tooth.
• over-eruption of teeth opposing the missing tooth.
• change in the bite resulting in problems with the jaw joint (TMJ).

To try to prevent these problems, it is advisable to restore missing teeth. This can be achieved using dentures, bridges or dental implants.