January 8, 2025

NVT Health

Health Blog

The Dangers Associated with Unreplaced Missing Teeth

There are a lot of reasons you could lose a tooth. It can happen because of an accident or injury, poor oral hygiene, and poor lifestyle habits. If you have been dealing with a dental issue and you have missing teeth, you could be at risk of complications. 

Missing teeth need to be replaced as soon as possible with dental implants in Drexel Hill, PA – Dr. Barry Cohen. The prices of these implants are reasonable enough for the outcomes they deliver. If you are like many people, you probably think a missing tooth is not a big deal. However, you should know that many oral health problems can develop in the future when you leave those gaps unaddressed. These problems include the following:

Gum Disease

A missing tooth affects your gum tissue. Bacteria can stay in the gap, increasing your risk of gum disease or infection. Unfortunately, gum disease can damage your healthy teeth. Also, it is known to cause complex health issues like heart conditions and diabetes. Thus, your missing teeth also impact your overall health.

Bone Loss

Every bone in your body needs to be used constantly to keep it stronger. If you lose a tooth, your jawbone health can degrade. When you eventually lose bone density, your facial look will change. In fact, you might look older than your age. Thankfully, dental implants can restore the health of your jawbone and facial structure. 

Eating Difficulties

If you have missing teeth, you can have a problem consuming crunchy foods if there’s a gap in your mouth. Eating any hard food item can damage your gums and neighboring teeth. Thus, you may need to avoid the foods you used to enjoy before you lost those teeth. But you can get implants to restore your chewing power. 

Teeth Shifting

Did you know that your teeth depend on one another for keeping themselves healthy? Your teeth need to stay close to each other to keep your oral health intact. But things will change once you lose even one tooth. Because of the gap formed, the adjacent teeth will shift their position. Such misalignment will result in headaches and jaw pain.  Besides, it can make it hard to maintain good oral hygiene when you have misaligned teeth. In turn, you could suffer from other oral health problems such as more tooth loss and tooth decay. So, if you have missing teeth, call your dentist as soon as possible and ask about dental implants.