Missing Teeth Effects - Egham Dental Care

Missing Teeth Effects

How can missing teeth affect you?

Correcting Tooth Loss

Tooth loss, resulting from various causes, requires prompt treatment to avoid potential problems.

As people age, prioritizing overall health and well-being becomes increasingly important.

The importance of restoring lost teeth with a lasting solution is essential, given the numerous issues associated with tooth loss.

Understanding the Causes of Tooth Loss

The loss of teeth can be caused by various factors:

Advanced Gum Disease: In cases where gum disease reaches an advanced stage, causing severe infection and looseness, tooth extraction may be the only viable option.
Traumatic Fractures: Accidents or injuries can result in tooth fractures, making effective repair challenging. In such instances, extraction might be recommended.
Progressive Decay: Severe decay can render a tooth too infected or broken down for conventional treatment, requiring extraction.
Recurrent Infection: Teeth that have undergone root canal treatment may suffer re-infection with a poor prognosis, leading to extraction.
Earlier Extractions: Some individuals may have opted for tooth extraction in their youth as a straightforward solution or due to a preference for a less expensive alternative to restorative treatments.

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Result of Avoiding Teeth Replacement

When a missing tooth is left untreated, irrespective of the cause, it triggers a series of biological processes that can have serious consequences. The severity of these effects is influenced by the number of lost teeth and the trauma associated with extraction.

Issues resulting from missing teeth can be directly linked to tooth loss itself or worsened by less than ideal solutions like ill-fitting dentures. Wrong treatment choices may also contribute to negative impacts on oral health.

It is important to treat tooth loss promptly to prevent these potential consequences and ensure optimal oral health.

Issues After Tooth Extraction

After undergoing a tooth extraction, individuals may experience some or all of the following issues:

Bone Shrinkage: Understanding the Impact of Tooth Loss

When teeth are lost, the surrounding bone undergoes significant changes as it loses its functional purpose, leading to shrinkage and resorption.

The role of bone, much like muscles, relies on consistent stimulation for maintaining strength and density. In the absence of teeth, which serve as natural stimulants, the jawbone tends to shrink, gradually losing density and shape.

This process of bone shrinkage occurs slowly over time, and its effects become apparent when problems arise with dentures or bridges. The jawbone becomes thin and weak, affecting stability and aesthetics.

To prevent bone shrinkage, continuous stimulation is crucial, either through natural teeth or advanced treatments like dental implants. Scientific studies highlight the necessity of consistent chewing forces to preserve the jawbone's strength, demonstrating the significance of innovative tooth replacement options such as dental implants.

Impact of Bone Loss on Facial Appearance

The consequences of tooth loss extend beyond oral health, significantly affecting facial aesthetics.

The absence of teeth can lead to an aged appearance, particularly when multiple teeth are lost. Without teeth for support, facial muscles and skin may lack the necessary structural foundation, resulting in hollowed cheek areas and heightened nasolabial folds (nose to lip line). Moreover, vertical jawbone loss can cause a disproportionate shortening of the lower third of the face compared to the middle and upper thirds.

These changes can speed up the formation of lines and wrinkles, reducing overall facial aesthetics. Correcting tooth loss through effective treatments becomes crucial not only for oral health but also for maintaining a youthful and balanced facial appearance.

Cosmetic Deterioration

Psychological Impact

The emotional and psychological effects of tooth loss are intricate and distressing.

Effects range, from subtle behaviours like covering the mouth while speaking to profound levels of anxiety.

Certain individuals feel a loss of personal completeness, feeling a void due to the absence of teeth and undergoing the emotional effects of an oral disability.

This situation worsens over time, leading to symptoms such as the emotional distress of an unstable denture caused by gradual bone loss.

Conversely, individuals may deal with the psychological challenges of social embarrassment, whether due to missing teeth or the need to wear ill-fitting dentures.

Lifestyle disability

Patients who have lost teeth or wear dentures may impacts in their general lives, reducing the quality of their lifestyle.

Experiencing things such as a continuous bad taste from food trapping underneath poor-fitting dentures where the fit may have changed over time; inconsistent denture fit; constantly having to reapply denture fixative; inability to chew correctly with no or unstable dentures, and the consequences of a decreased performance over time of the other teeth and dentures.

These things can inhibit the quality of life, making it a significant lifestyle disability.

Tooth Movement and Its Consequences

Following tooth extraction, neighbouring teeth may move into the empty space, causing tilting and rotation, with profound effects on overall oral health. The effects include:

Bite Discrepancies: Misaligned and tilted teeth lead to bite discrepancies, disrupting stability and harmony. This imbalance results in wear facets, risking fractures and broken teeth.
Excess Tooth Wear: The remaining teeth bear increased biting forces, accelerating wear, especially when back teeth are lost. This commonly leads to highly worn front incisors.
Aesthetic Deterioration: Tooth movement causes crowding or spacing, negatively impacting smile aesthetics over time.
Gum Disease Risk: Moving teeth create challenging areas for cleaning, increasing the risk of plaque buildup, gum disease, and decay.
Complex Future Treatments: Altered teeth positions complicate and escalate future treatments, affecting both remaining teeth and gum health, leading to more intricate Treatment Plans.
Speech Impairment: Loss of front teeth hampers speech pronunciation, affecting sounds like "F," "V," and "S."
Chewing Performance: Disrupted bite movements impair food breakdown, potentially causing nutritional deficiencies and adjustments to eating habits.
Comfort Issues: Gradual tooth loss contributes to oral discomfort due to the cumulative impact of the mentioned consequences.

Before and after gallery

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Explore hassle-free monthly payment plans tailored to your needs.

Benefit from our 0% finance options available for terms up to 24 months, a feature that many of our patients find particularly advantageous.

For terms extending beyond 24 months, enjoy the flexibility of low-interest-bearing plans.

Should you contemplate this financing option, a few credit checks will be necessary, ensuring a seamless process.

Feel free to engage in discussions about our payment plans at our Old Windsor clinic.

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Relaxing Dental Procedures

Recognizing the inherent apprehension some patients may feel about dental implant surgery, we prioritize your comfort at Egham Dental Care

Rest assured, the dental implant procedure is designed to be painless, employing precise administration of local anaesthetics to ensure profound numbing of the bone and gums.

Additionally, we offer sedation techniques that further enhance your experience, guaranteeing a pain-free and comfortable treatment. Learn more about our approach.

Implant Procedure Overview

Procedure Steps:

Start with a meticulous and comprehensive examination, creating a personalised treatment plan for your implant procedure.
Dr. Patel performs the surgical placement of your new implant(s).
A follow-up assessment ensures proper healing and adherence to the treatment plan.
Record impressions to hand craft the implant's upper portion (post and crown) in the dental laboratory.
Finalize the procedure by fitting the last segment of the implant (post and crown).
Conclude with a comprehensive appointment, allowing for additional cosmetic refinements or minor adjustments

Swift Process

Limited Appointments: Unlike traditional dental implant procedures, our method requires fewer appointments.
Efficient Healing: The recovery time is reduced and effective, tailored to individual needs. Learn more about our streamlined process.

Bone Loss Impact

When a tooth is lost, the adjacent bone that supports it undergoes a reduction in height, width, and overall volume. This change can influence both the immediate and eventual look of the gum tissue in that region, potentially impacting the neighbouring teeth.

The amount of available bone width and height directly affects the potential dimensions of an implant. A broader and longer implant not only enhances stability but also contributes to overall success. Our evaluation of bone dimensions involves utilizing digital radiographs or conducting a CT scan for a comprehensive understanding. Learn more about the implications of bone loss.

Dental Implant Questions

Lifespan of Dental Implants:
Can Dental Implants last Indefinitely? Once the implant integrates with your jawbone and tissues, the titanium implant functions like a natural root. The lifespan of your implant also relies on the care and maintenance of your oral health.
Pain and Discomfort: Is Pain Associated with Dental Implant Placement? When we place the implant, we are careful to carry out a pain-free procedure and if required various sedation methods suitable for nervous patients.
Age Requirement for Dental Implants: Is There a Minimum Age for Dental Implant Treatment? While there is no specific age limit, our dentists recommend individuals to be over 18 for the dental implant procedure.
Safety of Dental Implant Treatment: We employ Computer Guided implant placement techniques. We also employ comprehensive planning systems to ensure the success and safety of the implant treatment.
Value of Dental Implants: Assessing the Benefits of Dental Implants: A dental implant offers numerous oral health advantages, including smile enhancement, stabilisation of adjacent teeth, and protection against gum disease.
Pain in the Implant Process: Managing Discomfort in the Implant Process: Some slight discomfort may following the placement of a new implant, which minimized through modern anaesthetics. Post-procedure, swelling and slight aching may occur for 1-2 days. Many patients undergo multiple implants in a single day with minimal pain or distress. Existing patient have described this discomfort as no worse than that experienced after a tooth removal.

Implant Guide

Implants undergo colour matching and meticulous shaping to seamlessly harmonize with your natural teeth. Implant teeth are virtually indistinguishable from real teeth.

Implant Information Hub

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Long-Lasting Dental Implants

Once the implant integrates with your jawbone and surrounding tissues, the artificial titanium structure functions just like a natural root.

When we insert a titanium implant into the jawbone, it becomes an integral part of your oral structure.

This provides numerous health advantages, such as slowing or stopping bone loss, reinforcing the jawbone's structure, and diminishing the likelihood of gum disease due to better cleaning when compared to dentures.[Learn More.]

Longevity of Dental Implants

When appropriately cared for, dental implants boast a lifespan ranging from ten to twenty-five years or even longer.

Dental implants are beneficial for:

Tooth loss due to trauma, accidents, or injuries
Missing teeth resulting from gum disease or insufficient bone
Substituting old, worn, or fractured dentures
Integrated treatments like Implant-Retained Dentures
Offering both removable and fixed options
Addressing individual tooth loss or entire arches in a single session

The long term success of your implant depends on your commitment to your oral health. [Discover more.]

Dental Implants

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