A missing tooth could spell disaster for the rest of your smile if you ignore it.

Are you one of the millions of Americans faced with permanent tooth loss? If so, you may be feeling rather defeated by the whole thing. Before you just shrug your shoulders and accept this problem, your Radcliff, KY dentist, Dr. Ernest Skaggs, is here to tell you why you may want to replace your missing teeth if you value your oral health.

You may not realize all the issues that can befall you when you lose a missing tooth. After all, it’s just one tooth, how bad can it be? Well, unfortunately, the consequences can be rather bad if you don’t replace the tooth. Here are just some ways that untreated tooth loss can affect your oral health in the long run:

Bone Loss

Your jawbone needs all of your tooth roots in order to stay healthy and strong. When you lose a tooth you also lose the tooth roots, which is an essential part of jawbone health. Without all your tooth roots, the jawbone will begin to breakdown and lose density. The jawbone will get smaller and become more brittle and prone to fracturing and damage. By getting a restoration like dental implants from your Radcliff dentist you can prevent significant bone loss.

Dental Misalignments

Do you love that you have a straight smile? Want to avoid needing braces? If so, then you better replace your missing tooth or teeth right away. By leaving gaps in your smile you allow the rest of your teeth to shift into that gap. While this won’t happen overnight, if you aren’t planning to treat your tooth loss then this will inevitably happen. Your smile may end up having wonky gaps between teeth, crowding or even crookedness, which will require orthodontics in order to treat the problem.

Worn Teeth

When you lose one or more teeth you affect what teeth take the most weight and force from your jaws. This is one reason having a properly aligned smile is important. All teeth should experience the same amount of jaw pressure and not more. Of course, if you don’t have all your teeth then it’s only natural that some teeth will suffer from more wear and tear than is necessary, which can lead to fractures, cracks and other problems.

Tooth loss can easily be treated when you turn to your Radcliff, KY, restorative dentist Dr. Skaggs. Give us a call and tell us that you’re interested in getting dental implants. We would be happy to schedule a consultation with you.