With all of your healthy, natural teeth in place, your smile can experience a number of different complications. Its appearance is an important one, as your self-confidence can be largely impacted by the visible effects of missing teeth. However, there are deeper effects of tooth loss that go far beyond your smile’s appearance, and by receiving dental implants at our Conroe, TX, dental office, you can more successfully address those effects even before they become obvious.
What happens to your remaining teeth?
Your healthy, natural teeth’s close proximity to each other is important. As you bite and chew, they support each other to absorb that bite pressure without being forced out of place or alignment. When you lose one or more teeth, the remaining ones that are closes to them can shift out of place under the change in your bite pressure. This can lead to a host of other oral health problems, including malocclusion (crooked teeth) and increased risks of chronic dental issues.
How does tooth loss affect your oral health?
The positions of your remaining teeth aren’t the only things that are impacted by tooth loss. For example, teeth that shift out of place are more susceptible to being overwhelmed by oral bacteria (plaque and tartar). When they shift out of alignment, teeth can be harder to keep clean on a daily basis, which makes plaque and tartar buildup harder to fight. This raises your risks of conditions like tooth decay, gum disease, chronic bad breath, and more, which all result from the excessive buildup of oral bacteria.
Are there other effects of tooth loss?
While you can eventually see the change in your smile as your remaining teeth change, there are other effects of tooth loss that you may not notice for years to come. However, these effects can have a serious influence on your oral health beginning immediately after you lose a tooth. The most impactful of these effects is the diminished stimulation in your jawbone, which can cause your jawbone to lose mass and density over time. If left unaddressed, this can also raise your risks of losing more teeth in the future due to a significantly weaker jawbone.
Learn more about tooth loss by calling us
Many of the effects of tooth loss aren’t obvious at first, but with dental implants, we can help you successfully address all of them. For more information, schedule a consultation by calling the Dental Centre of Conroe in Conroe, TX, today at (936) 441-4600. We also proudly serve patients who live in Houston, The Woodlands, Willis, Montgomery, Magnolia, Huntsville, and all surrounding communities.