What Tooth Loss Changes About Your Smile

When you think about tooth loss, you might think the loss is the biggest change to your smile. However, the effects keep coming long after the tooth or teeth are gone, and the different ways in which your oral health changes can mean more for your long-term smile than you might expect. Today, we examine a few of the most important ways that tooth loss changes your smile, including the effects that you don’t always notice at first.

It changes its appearance

The appearance of your smile changes dramatically when you lose one or more teeth, and it’s this change that many people mistakenly believe is the worst thing about tooth loss. Your confidence in your smile plays a big role in your overall self-confidence, not to mention the hit to the pride you’ve taken in caring for your smile up until now. Fortunately, replacing your lost teeth with a lifelike prosthesis, such as dental bridge, denture, or dental implants, can help reestablish your smile’s younger, healthier, and fuller appearance.

It changes how your bite works

Your bite exerts a tremendous amount of force and to balance it properly, your teeth should be able to meet each other evenly every time you bite down. Losing a tooth disrupts the balance in your bite’s pressure distribution, and your remaining teeth may shift out of alignment trying to accommodate the change. This can make your bite function even worse, as well as increase the risks to your healthy, natural teeth and oral tissues.

It changes your oral health concerns

Tooth loss is a severe consequence of many different dental issues, including gum disease (which is the most common). Up until losing a tooth, the goal of preventing such issues was to help you avoid tooth loss and better preserve your smile. You can still prevent further tooth loss and improve your oral health by practicing good hygiene and visiting your dentist regularly for preventive care. However, you’ll also have to care for your restoration, as well, to ensure its success in restoring your smile.

Learn how to save your smile from tooth loss

Tooth loss can do more to your oral health than you realize, but with the right tooth replacement option, you can save your smile from most of its consequences. To learn more, schedule an appointment by calling Yelena Popkova D.D.S. in Merrimack, NH, today at 603-595-9400. We also serve the residents of Nashua, Hudson, Manchester, Milford, and all surrounding communities.