The Dentist Resolves Missing Teeth

Missing teeth are among the many issues that a dentist can handle for his patients. There are many causes for these to be lost and among the top reasons are severe decay, cavities, accidents and gum disease. Some people are also genetically prone to an incomplete set of pearly whites. Whatever the reason behind it, there are many people of all ages who are missing their teeth. Some may have just one gone while others have many. The dental professional needs to assess the condition of the oral cavity before making a recommendation to the patient regarding the solution to his missing pearly whites.

Dentures are among the first solutions that a dentist will recommend for his patient for lost teeth. There are complete and partial dentures to accommodate the entire lost set of teeth, either for the upper or lower jaws. Complete dentures are usually made of acrylic and are modeled to fit the patient's jaws for comfort and function. Partial ones usually accommodate four or more missing teeth in either the lower or upper jaw. The remaining existing ones will be where the dentures will be anchored. One disadvantage of partial ones is the very visible metal clasp that anchors the dentures to these existing teeth. Both full and partial dentures need to be cleaned thoroughly regularly and removed from the mouth at night.

Implants are another alternative to missing teeth. The procedure requires the placing of a titanium rod through the gum right through the bone to act as the root of the tooth. When the rod heals into the bone, a replacement tooth is fixed onto the rod. This is the closest to a natural tooth that a person can get. The dentist that does this procedure should be a qualified surgeon who has studied the operation. There are a few downsides to this very convenient procedure which are that it is expensive even with just one missing tooth and that the procedure may take up to several months to complete. The more teeth need replacing, the more expensive it can get and the longer the duration of time needed to complete it. The operation can also be painful especially since it requires making an incision on the gum and implanting the titanium rod on the bone underneath the gum where the missing tooth should be.

Another solution for one or more missing teeth is to have a bridge or a crown put into the gap. The dentist can recommend these for patients who are missing just a few teeth which may be side by side with each other. It would require reshaping a perfectly good tooth on the side closest to the gap. The reshaping will enable it to hold the crown or the bridge that will anchor it. The reshaping of the good tooth can actually be seen as a disadvantage since it cannot be ever reversed. This means that the reshaped tooth will need to be always covered with a fake tooth.