Posts Tagged ‘missing teeth’

So what does that have to do with a dental blog? Plenty. It is all about form, fit and function. While we all love the looks of a great smile, your teeth have an important function; they are designed to bite and chew your food for a lifetime of proper digestion.  Just as tap shoes do not transform an elephant into a tap dancer, a mouth full of malpositioned teeth, ill-fitting crowns or loose dentures will not produce an effective bite, which dentists call occlusion.  Your teeth, ligaments, nerves, muscles and bone, all working together, control occlusion. Your teeth must be in alignment to withstand the normal pressures of chewing food. 

Inch for inch, your jaw muscles are among the most powerful in the human body.  Normal chewing places about 70 lbs/sq inch of pressure on the back teeth, and clenching your teeth can increase that force to 150-300 lbs/sq inch.  Bruxism is teeth grinding, often during sleep.  The forces in bruxism during sleep have been measured at over 1000 lbs/sq inch of force, enough to crush the front end of a car.  If normal pressure is applied evenly to your teeth, the force is comfortable.  But if you have occlusal problems and all that pressure is applied to just a few spots, the teeth, ligaments and nerves can signal pain.  Over time, the tooth absorbing this punishment can fracture. 

You may have an unstable bite (malocclusion) due to missing teeth or periodontal disease, or if your teeth are worn down or out of place.  Ill-fitting crowns or bridges can also disturb your bite.  That powerful force, misdirected due to an incorrect bite, can cause pain and damage to your remaining teeth.  The upper and lower teeth should fit together well, without causing your TMJ (temporomandibular joint) to become unstable.  TMJ dysfunction can lead to pain in your jaw or face, as well as headaches and other complaints.

 If you have an unstable on ineffective bite, bruxism, misaligned teeth or TMJ pain, see your dentist and request a bite analysis. A small adjustment may be all that is needed to correct the situation and prevent problems later. A custom night dental guard can help with bruxism, and other types of dental treatment can improve occlusion. And while we can’t guarantee that a visit to our office will give you a new superpower like tap dancing, we can relieve pain, restore occlusion and allow you to chew your food comfortably again.

Dentures

Often time patients will visit our office and request to have a set of dentures made because they believe they are the only answer to their problem. Some believe their teeth are so broken or decayed that they are beyond repair. Others have noticed loose teeth due to untreated gum disease. Many patients are in pain and have chosen extraction rather than dental restoration.

Dentures are not inevitable! First and foremost, it is essential to commit to taking great care of your remaining teeth. Schedule an appointment with a caring, gentle dentist who can assess your situation and share the options you have for creating a beautiful and healthy smile.

Dentures may look real but they are like having artificial hands. False teeth are just that – FALSE. Having false teeth make it very difficult to chew and enjoy certain foods. Natural suction in your mouth keeps a full upper denture in place against the hard palate or roof of your mouth. But you can only apply 15% of the normal pressure used to chew food before suction is lost and the denture slips.  Denture pastes and creams are messy and do not add security in most cases. Because the palate is now covered by a denture, many complain that food no longer smells, feels or even tastes the same. Some say that their bottom dentures are so uncomfortable that they only wear them when they go out in public.

Collapse of bite due to bone resorption

Did you know that as soon as your natural teeth are removed, your face begins to rapidly age? The teeth are vital to keeping the jaw bone intact. When teeth are lost, the jaw bone begins to disappear. This process of bone resorption begins just as soon as your original teeth are extracted and never stops throughout life. As the bone that once held your natural teeth in place begins to disappear, your facial appearance begins to collapse and change. Your jaw bone will continue to shrink away, more and more each year.

What can you do to keep your teeth for life? Maintain good oral hygiene. Treat periodontal disease. See your dentist for regular dental check-ups and repair cavities before the tooth is lost to decay.  Replacing a few missing teeth can maintain a correct bite.  If you have lost your teeth and are troubled by wearing standard dentures, there are a number of options including dental implants, which look and feel like your natural teeth,, and implant-retained dentures.  Age is not a barrier to obtaining dental implants or implant-retained dentures. 

If you are considering dentures and would like to consult with a highly trained dentist to discuss all your options, please call our office so we may assist you – (610) 565-2868.

Your dental care is important to me.

Dr. L. Z. Bodak-G
Media PA Dentist

Missing Teeth

Many adults have missing permanent teeth that have been lost due to injury, disease or decay. Not only do missing teeth make you look older than you are, they can also be detrimental to both your health and well-being. If you have teeth that are missing, replacing them can dramatically improve your appearance by improving your smile. This will also improve how you feel about yourself.

Collapse of bite due to bone resorption

In our grandparents’ day, there was often little opportunity for quality dental care. As a result, people expected to lose at least some of their teeth by their mid-adult years. As they began to lose teeth, their faces started to age prematurely. Losing a permanent tooth is similar to losing other parts of your body. Would you be content to lose a finger, even though you had nine others? Of course not. You could still use your hand, but you know that your hand works best when no parts are missing. Your mouth and jaw also function best when you have all 28 permanent adult teeth. Many people have lost all four wisdom teeth without any loss of function, but the other 28 adult teeth are a different story.

Each tooth functions both individually and also as part of your bite. When you lose a tooth, there is an empty space or gap left behind that affects each of the opposing teeth. If one or more missing permanent adult teeth are not replaced, the spaces or gaps will cause your remaining teeth to shift to a new spot. As these teeth shift, your bite will be disturbed and you may develop TMJ (temporomandibular joint) symptoms with jaw clicking or soreness. The gaps also become the perfect place for food to become trapped, which increases your risk of gum disease and tooth decay. If you lose enough teeth, you will also be unable to chew your food effectively.

Avoid future TMJ problems and collapse of your bite. Replacing missing teeth promptly can help prevent movement of your remaining teeth and can help preserve your bite. When a tooth is lost, the supporting bone in the jaw begins to dissolve. This is known as bone resorption. Bone resorption is an ongoing, continual and permanent process; it never stops throughout your lifetime until you replace the missing tooth. The longer the tooth is missing, the more bone is lost to resorption. This makes it more difficult to do dental restoration to replace the missing teeth.

If you have dentures, you are already experiencing ongoing bone loss and premature facial aging, as you lose more and more of your bone from your  jaw . Your profile and facial appearance starts to age more rapidly.  Loose dentures accelerate the rate of bone loss even more. Even if one or more teeth were lost long ago, replacing them with dental implants now can stabilize your bite and bone tissue, reduce TMJ stress, improve your ability to eat a variety of foods and enhance your smile and facial appaearance.

So replacing a tooth as soon as possible after it is lost is key to maintaining proper oral health and maintaining your facial proportions. Restoring missing teeth will reduce the shifting of teeth due to gaps and will also help prevent bone loss.

Your oral health and dental care is important to me.

Dr. L. Z. Bodak-G
Media PA Dentist