The consequences of losing a tooth go way beyond having an unpleasant looking gap where your tooth used to be. A compromised smile is just the tip of the iceberg. There are more serious problems under the surface. A tooth has many functions, which are all threatened when a tooth is lost or removed.
1. Shifting of teeth
The stability of tooth position depends on contact being maintained between neighbouring teeth. If the contact is broken, like in the case of a missing tooth, neighbouring and opposing teeth move into the empty space created by the missing tooth. This disrupts the harmony and more teeth become involved, like a domino effect. Teeth shifted into abnormal positions become more prone to gum recession and loosening.
In order to function efficiently, the temporo –mandibular joint (the joint between the jaw bone and the skull) and the teeth need to be positioned in a smooth curve. The shifting of the teeth introduces irregularities into the smooth functioning curve. This leads to tooth, gum and joint problems.
Cases with long term or multiple loss of teeth can end up with a collapsed bite or reduced height of face, which requires complicated full mouth rehabilitation treatment.
2. Chipped teeth
When one or more teeth are lost, their share of workload is transferred to the other remaining teeth. The increased amount of stress causes more wear and tear of the remaining teeth. Different teeth have different functions. Front teeth are not meant to bear the chewing and grinding load like the back teeth. They can chip and crack easily if used for chewing food in absence of back molar teeth. Also, if the teeth have shifted into abnormal positions, the unnatural direction in which biting force acts on them can be very harmful to the teeth.
3. Joint pain and headaches
The shifting of teeth disrupts the smooth functioning of the ‘joint and teeth system’. This may cause pain in the temporo-mandibular joint and the related muscles that are used for biting and grinding food. It may also cause chronic headaches and neck pain. People who have lost teeth on one side of the jaw, prefer to eat from the other side all the time. This results in unequal distribution of forces on the right and left joint and one joint is overstressed.
4. Chewing difficulty
Difficulty in chewing is one of the more obvious problems of losing teeth. But, the consequences are far more damaging than you realize. The inconvenience of chewing with an incomplete, mal-aligned set of teeth discourages people from eating high fibre solid foods. This affects the choice of food and hence the quality of nutrition a person gets from food. For proper digestion of food, it should be chewed and broken down to smaller particles before swallowing. The lack of this step may result in indigestion and gastro- intestinal ailments.
5. Bone loss and sinus expansion
Just like muscle wasting occurs when it doesn’t get enough exercise, the jaw bone at the site where a tooth is removed is resorbed and lost in the absence of any stimulation.
If a tooth is lost in the back region of the upper jaw, the maxillary sinus which lies above it begins to expand, eroding into the space of the jaw bone previously occupied by the tooth.
If the missing teeth are not replaced in time, the bone loss and sinus expansion makes replacement treatment complicated especially in case of implants.
6. Aged look
Teeth and jaw bones support the cheek and lips, which gives the face a youthful look. When teeth are lost, the face appears sunken. The muscles lose their tone, wrinkles become prominent and creases are deepened. If the bite is collapsed, the lower one- third of the face is shortened which makes a person look significantly older. The aged look or sometimes an obvious gap seen when a person smiles have adverse psychological effects. Their self-confidence is reduced and such people tend to shy away from social interactions.
7. Speech issues
Missing teeth can affect the way you speak. It may cause whistling, lisping or even spitting when trying to pronounce certain words. This could be embarrassing, more so if your job includes public speaking.
Your dentist will make all possible efforts to conservatively treat your tooth. But, if there is no treatment option left and the tooth has to be removed, it should not be left without an artificial(prosthetic) replacement.