Know the Missing Teeth Impact!

Even if you believe you could learn to live without teeth, living without teeth or dentures affects your overall quality of life. The impact of missing teeth on your health and appearance is significant.

Difficulty Eating

Some foods taste better when they are crushed with teeth. Without teeth, it is difficult to eat a wide variety of nutritious foods that provide the vitamins and nutrients necessary to maintain good health and proper immune function. This makes you vulnerable to both oral and physical issues associated with poor nutrition, such as tooth decay, obesity, diabetes, and depression.

The act of chewing stimulates the salivary glands to produce saliva. Although you can eat soft foods by mashing or blending them, foods that are not adequately broken down can cause issues with the digestive process, resulting in chronic problems with upset stomach, reflux, and excess gas production.

Gum and Jaw Damage

When you eat without natural teeth or dental implants, your gum tissue and jaw must work harder to compensate for your missing teeth. Over time, this can make your gums and jaw become sore and irritated. Relying on your gums to do all the chewing can lead to gum and jaw problems, including muscle pain, jaw joint (TMJ) issues, and infected gums.

Speech Difficulties

Your lips, teeth, and tongue must effectively work together to help you speak clearly. Without teeth, it can be difficult to pronounce some words that require touching your tongue to the back or the edge of your front teeth. Try saying words like “fifty”, “sew”, “third”, and “that.” Notice how your tongue is used to form the correct sound. If you have no front teeth, pronunciation will be awkward, affecting your social and work life, where communication is paramount.

Risk of Losing Remaining Teeth

If you have lost one or more teeth to tooth decay or gum disease, you are at a higher risk for losing additional teeth unless the disease is controlled with treatment. Missing teeth also create space for any remaining natural teeth to shift over time.

Flexible Treatment Options for Missing Teeth

If you have decided to proceed with artificial teeth, you have several options to choose from based on your specific needs and dental concerns. Whether you need to replace all of your missing teeth or only one or two missing teeth in the lower or upper jaw, multiple solutions are available to address your specific situation. These include:

• Full Dentures
• Partial Dentures
• Denture Implants
• Immediate Dentures
• Implant-fixed teeth