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Your teeth are held in place by tooth roots, jawbone tissue, gums, and other teeth. Once you lose one, your risk of further tooth loss increases significantly. This can lead to reduced self-confidence and other complications down the road. Fortunately, our West Michigan dentists can help you explore different ways to replace missing teeth before they affect your oral health.

Here are 5 reasons why you should consider tooth replacement.

Is It Necessary to Replace Missing Teeth?

Tooth replacement is in your best interest and highly recommended. Why? Well, as soon as you replace a missing tooth, you improve the overall health of your mouth. The space left by a missing tooth can negatively affect your nutrition by limiting the foods you consume, the surrounding teeth, and your jawbone.

Depending on your preferences, you have a few options to choose from when it comes to restoring your smile. All are incredibly effective and mimic both the look and function of real teeth. For example, if you’re not adverse to oral surgery and want a more permanent solution, we recommend dental implants. Non-surgical alternatives include full and partial dentures as well as dental bridges.

Generally, Tooth Replacement Allows For:

1. An Expanded Diet

Missing teeth make eating the foods we love difficult and even painful. If you limit your diet to only what your teeth can handle, you will miss out on many important nutrients. Our dentists can help you explore your tooth replacement options, like dental implants, so you never have to worry about losing the ability to eat healthy foods. With gaps in your smile filled in, you can enjoy harder, crunchier options, not just those that are soft.

Learn More -> Eat Your Favorite Foods Again With Dental Implants

2. Better Oral Health

Each tooth in your mouth provides support for the teeth around it. When one tooth is missing, the surrounding teeth have nothing to lean on and will inevitably tilt toward the open space resulting in crowding. This can cause issues beyond just appearance.

Crooked teeth are harder to clean properly and can result in tooth decay or further tooth loss due to gum disease. Replacement options like dentures or even a single dental implant help keep natural teeth in their original positions and prevent excess hard-to-reach tartar buildup.

3. A Stronger Jawbone

Your body can detect when you lose a tooth and will naturally start to absorb the minerals in your jaw to use elsewhere. As a result, the area of the jaw around the empty socket will start to deteriorate.

Related Post -> 6 Signs You’re Ready for Dental Implants

A less stable or weak jawbone may eventually lead to facial collapse, a condition that changes the shape of the face, gives a more sunken appearance, and can make removable dentures difficult to wear. Unlike other tooth replacement options, dental implants are surgically placed into the jawbone itself and act much like natural tooth roots. This gives jawbone tissue the stimulation it needs to be healthy.

4. Higher Self-Esteem

Your smile is often the first thing people notice about you. It can say a lot about your personality. For these reasons, our dentists offer restorative options such as the dental implant procedure for you to choose from.

If you’ve ever felt embarrassed about your smile, you owe it to yourself to schedule a consultation with one of our dentists. A missing front tooth can especially make it difficult to smile confidently or meet people for the first time without feeling self-conscious.

5. An Improved Ability to Speak and Chew

Having one or more teeth missing can lead to changes in the way you eat your food and pronounce words. For example, it’s common for people who have experienced tooth loss to only chew on one side of their mouth or chew at a slower pace. Certain words may also become difficult to say clearly depending on where in your mouth teeth are missing.

Replacing teeth can help your jaw and facial muscles as well as realign your bite. Restoration will not only allow you to comfortably speak with others, but it will also grant you the ability to eat a variety of foods again.

Make an Appointment Today

If you’re ready to get started, our dentists serving West Michigan can help you explore your tooth replacement options during a one-on-one consultation. To request an appointment, call one of our MI Smiles Dental locations today.

This blog post has been updated.