Tooth loss is a traumatic experience, regardless of how it occurs. Teeth are a major part of our lives, from chewing the food we need to digest, to enhancing a smile with a strong showing of self-confidence. While it can be a very hard time in your life, the exciting news is that modern day advanced dentistry allows you several options when considering the replacement of missing teeth.
Dental (Periodontal) Diseases
Periodontal diseases are regarded as the most common cause of tooth loss today. The word periodontal means around the tooth, signifying the typical location of the infection.
There are many key factors that contribute to periodontal disease, most specifically daily habits that would affect the teeth. To be more specific, the disease is caused by bacteria that, along with mucus and other particles, form plaque on our teeth. While daily cleaning of our teeth such as brushing or flossing helps remove plaque, it does not remove plaque that has hardened into tartar. While it’s true that a professional cleaning done by a dentist or hygienist can remove tartar, there is still a risk to your health if tartar is prevalent for too long.
Traditional treatment for periodontal disease requires blade surgery, extensive recovery time, and often leaves patients with scarring in the tissue affected. Dr. Brown is proud to offer the use of LANAP, a non-invasive laser gum treatment which serves as an alternative to traditional periodontal surgery.
To read more about periodontal disease, visit the section of our website dedicated to identifying and solving dental disease.
Trauma
Odds are high that you have experienced trauma to a tooth in your lifetime. Whether it’s from a sports incident when younger, or an accidental misplacement of your feet, any blunt force to the teeth often result in chipping or breaking off a tooth.
While trauma usually indicates a direct effect to the teeth itself, it can also mean as a result of outside influences affecting the jawbone, or other areas around the teeth. Individuals who have had defects of the jaw bone, such as following surgery or in an automobile accident, often require surgery to repair loss of jaw bone volume, which is often compounded with tooth replacement.
To learn more about how Dr. Brown helps individuals with tooth loss, visit the dental implants subsection of our website.
Congenital absence
The primary cause of congenital absence of teeth is widely debated, but is often agreed upon as being hereditary. How it comes to be is typically after a baby tooth falls out and there is no tooth to replace it. The teeth most often affected are the upper jaw lateral incisors and premolars.
You’ll often find that it is specific teeth affected by congenital absence, but in certain cases all permanent teeth are missing, making a full set of replacement teeth the solution.
Conclusion
There are many causes for missing teeth, but that doesn’t mean you have to live your life without them. It’s recommended to take steps to prevent teeth from falling out, but in the event of missing teeth, feel free to contact my Philadelphia office to discuss your options.