Missing Tooth Replacements: Improve your Quality of Life!!
While we have excellent dental technology now, sometimes the option to save a tooth through either a filling, root therapy or crown may not be a viable one for a host of reasons. It’s an unfortunate fact of life that most of us will lose at least 1 tooth during a lifetime and a common question asked at the dental surgery is, “Do I need to replace it?” and “Why should I replace it if it’s at the back and no one can see I now have a gap?”.
To Replace or Not to Replace, That is the Question!
Teeth sit next to each other in a nice row in your jaws. Some of us have rows that are very straight while others are not so straight, none-the-less they all sit next to each other to work as a team in their daily chewing function. If one of the members in this team is lost, a gap is formed. Now since the teeth either side of the gap no longer have a friend to hold them upright, these teeth tend to fall over into the space. In addition to this, the teeth biting on these fallen teeth tend to grow down to meet them causing collapse of the bite. This leads to two areas that are difficult to clean, one between the teeth that have fallen over and the other between the teeth biting on to them due to larger gaps around these teeth. Interestingly this also leads to a loss of function which then affects the foods you can then eat and consequently your nutrition. This then affects your quality of life and life expectancy.
What are My Replacement Options?
To answer this question, they are categorised into REMOVABLE Replacements, FIXED Replacements and HYBRID Replacement Systems.I will be going into detail about all of the tooth replacement options available at Pennant Hills Dental Centre over the next few blog articles. If in the mean time you have a missing tooth and would like to discuss your options don’t hesitate to reserve an appointment today by Booking Online or Email or phone us on 9484 1132.
