Consequences if you lose your teeth

This is an automatically translated article.

The article is professionally consulted by Doctor of Dentistry - Jaw - Face - Department of Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital

1. Causes of tooth loss in adults

There are many causes that can lead to permanent tooth loss such as:
Consequences of oral diseases such as tooth decay, pulpitis, periodontitis ... Due to trauma damage teeth, broken teeth. Because tooth number 8 is misaligned, causing damage to the adjacent tooth, damage to the root, the tooth must be removed. Due to improper nutrition: Not eating enough nutrients such as calcium, potassium... weakens teeth easily leading to tooth loss. Due to age: This is an irreversible cause, as we age, chewing, grinding and biting activities will gradually erode the enamel and edges of the teeth, leading to aging. Aging teeth make teeth less strong and lead to tooth loss.

2. Consequences of tooth loss?

Whatever the cause, the loss of teeth in adults is irreversible, which can lead to serious consequences such as:
Decreased chewing function When we lose one tooth, we have actually lost twice as much. chewing coefficient of that tooth, because similar teeth of the opposite jaw also no longer have chewing function. This will reduce the ability to grind food before entering the body, which can easily cause stomach upset. Especially if you lose your molars, your ability to chew will be seriously affected. Besides, when the chewing force is reduced, it also affects the pleasure of eating and drinking every day.

Displacement of teeth and cause malocclusion Losing teeth not only reduces chewing force, but also causes the phenomenon of shifting the remaining teeth in the jaw, bite disorder. The teeth put together are a unified whole that supports and balances each other on the jaw arch, helping to evenly distribute the chewing force. When a tooth is lost, the tooth in the jaw opposite the position of the missing tooth when it loses support, will gradually emerge or hang down towards the missing tooth. This leads to the damage of the natural bite of the jaw, affecting the chewing and biting activities, causing pain when chewing.
Loss of teeth makes chewing force not evenly distributed, the two teeth next to the lost tooth position no longer have a fulcrum, the teeth will tend to shift, move to the lost tooth position, over time, will Create space for other teeth to continue to move. It not only affects the aesthetics of the teeth, but also affects the remaining teeth and seriously affects chewing in the long run. Not only that, when there are interstitial spaces in the teeth, food can easily get in and cause bacteria to accumulate and grow, leading to increased oral diseases.
Alveolar bone loss After a tooth is lost, the jawbone around the lost tooth socket begins to disappear due to the natural elimination of the body. The bone in the area of ​​​​loss of teeth will disappear very quickly, greatly affecting the aesthetics of the teeth and affecting the restoration later, if treatment requires bone grafting. Bone loss also changes the shape of the face such as sunken cheeks, there is no support for sagging facial skin, wrinkles will appear faster, the face is older than age. In addition, alveolar bone loss also reduces the ability to support the teeth and also reduces the chewing force, the teeth become looser.
Headaches, neck and shoulder pain Loss of teeth makes the jaw unbalanced, the support force is no longer available, the remaining teeth will tilt in a random direction from which the chewing force acting on the remaining teeth increases by one The abnormal way leads to changes in the amplitude of oscillation of the temporomandibular joint, affecting the temporomandibular joint for a long time, causing you to have headaches, shoulder pain, neck pain,...
Incorrect pronunciation Teeth are also involved. Involved in helping you pronounce more accurately, when missing teeth, there are gaps, leading to incorrect pronunciation. Especially when you lose your front teeth, due to a decrease or loss of the relationship between teeth - lips - tongue, it is easy to pronounce lisp.
Affects aesthetics and communication Lost teeth affect aesthetics when you communicate, especially the positions of teeth that are often exposed when talking or smiling. Even with the loss of molars, over time, the teeth of other tooth positions will also be displaced, affecting the aesthetics of the entire jaw. There is also a phenomenon of altered pronunciation, slurred speech, ... molars sometimes hurt, affecting health and quality of daily life.
Jawbone has the effect of supporting the entire facial structure, so when you lose teeth, it leads to bone loss, causing you to have sunken cheeks, sagging skin, wrinkles around the mouth. premature skin aging.
Affects general health Losing teeth reduces chewing performance, affects eating, causes pain when eating, so you often eat less foods that need to be chewed more, reduce foods containing more fiber and less vitamins. Therefore, it is easy to lead to medical problems due to vitamin A deficiency or constipation due to not enough fiber.
Psychological effects When losing teeth makes you always feel anxious or self-deprecating if those teeth are in a visible position, affecting the psychology of people who have lost teeth.

3. What to do when a tooth is lost?

Many people wonder what to do when they lose their teeth, especially many people wonder what to do when they lose many teeth? When losing teeth, a number of measures can be used to overcome it to minimize the risk of complications caused by tooth loss such as:
Removable denture This is a technique often applied to the elderly, those who Patient has been missing teeth for a long time. This technique can be used when losing a hand a few teeth or even all teeth. This method uses a denture with gum tissue attached directly to the patient's gums, which can make a partial or full denture depending on the subject. When using this removable denture technique, it is completely removable for cleaning. The disadvantages of this method are that the removable jaw will be bent and deflected when subjected to a strong impact, weak chewing ability, easy to fall when used for a while, not preventing bone loss... Therefore , this technique is now deprecated.
Making a porcelain bridge This is an effective replacement method, so if one or more teeth are lost in the same area, this method can reduce some of the disadvantages of the removable denture method. Making a porcelain bridge is a technique for planting fixed dentures, but to make a bridge requires 2 adjacent teeth to be relatively strong to be able to support the bridge. The advantages are better chewing ability than removable dentures, longer life and a more natural look. The downside is that it is difficult to clean around the teeth below the bridge, does not prevent bone loss, is easy to chip if you eat hard things...
Implant Implants Implant is usually a good choice when it needs to be replaced. Replace one tooth or many teeth in different positions in the oral cavity, This method is modern and restores the ability to chew as well as real teeth. When done, you are attached a denture post into the jaw, then attach the replacement tooth to create a firm grip. The advantage of this method is that the dentures have a long lifespan, restore good chewing function, have high aesthetics, do not affect neighboring teeth, and limit bone loss. The downside is that this is a surgical method, so it will cause some of the same complications as other surgical interventions.
Thus, when losing teeth, there is a risk of causing many serious consequences that affect not only the health but also the aesthetics of each individual. So if you encounter this situation, you should go to the dental clinics for early examination and treatment to avoid long-term effects on health and the ability to treat more difficult.
Dental - Jaw - Facial - Vinmec International General Hospital specializes in examining and treating all common dental problems in adults and children. The hospital has a team of qualified doctors and dentists and a system of advanced machinery to help support the examination process well and shorten the time.
Therefore, when there is any problem, you can go to the hospital to be checked for appropriate instructions from a specialist doctor. Avoiding leaving for a long time will affect the structure and aesthetics of the teeth.

Please dial HOTLINE for more information or register for an appointment HERE. Download MyVinmec app to make appointments faster and to manage your bookings easily.