The main goal of modern dentistry is to help restore health, speech, aesthetics, comfort, and normal functions for individuals that are missing one or more teeth. Because humans continue to grow and age, tooth loss is an everyday problem that affects millions of people. The more teeth you have missing, the more difficult everyday tasks can become like eating.
The hidden effects of tooth loss
Aesthetics are the most apparent effect of missing teeth. Your appearance can affect the way you feel and tooth loss can have a powerful effect on a person. This is especially due to social consequences and psychological consequences of losing a tooth.
Tooth loss is not all about the ugly gap that was left after your tooth fell out, tooth loss can have a negative effect on your health, facial aesthetics, functions, and just about everything else.
Which teeth do you usually lose first?
About 70% of the entire United States population has at least one tooth missing which is usually a back tooth. The first permanent teeth AKA adult teeth to erupt in your mouth are your 6-year molars.
Molars are usually the teeth that most people lose first due to a fracture, endodontic therapy (root canal therapy), or decay. Dentists normally put crowns on these molars but a lot of times they are susceptible to recurrent decay.
The lifespan of crowns can vary dramatically. The average lifespan of a crown has been reported to last for up to 10.3 years before it falls out. It has been reported that 20% of all crowns fall out at 30 years and 3% of all crowns have a fail rate at 23 years.
Ingenuity at its best
What can a person do to avoid debilitating bone loss and replacing missing teeth?
It all depends on the number of teeth that you have lost. A single tooth implant is the best option for replacing a single back tooth. Replacing a tooth root and adding a crown basically, defines what a dental implant is. The entire implant is made from pure titanium. The implant has an exceptionally biocompatible property that allows the implant to fuse and bond with the jawbone.
The crown is the portion of the tooth that you will be able to see in your mouth. The crown attaches to the implant and it will function, feel, and look like a natural tooth.
Replacing more than one tooth
Implants benefit all people who have lost a tooth or even all their teeth. Every year the number of people who can benefit from implants are increasing.
There was a survey done between 1999 until 2002 where they found, Americans that are older than 60 have lost at least an average of 9 of their teeth. About 30 million adults in America have lost at least a full arch of their natural teeth. This amount makes up about 17% of the entire United States population.
This rate is rapidly increasing in the number of adults. It has been calculated that from 1991 till 2020 the rate of adults needing complete dentures will rise from 33.6 million to 37.9 million adults.
How implants stop bone loss
All dental implants integrate and fuse with your jaw-bone. Dental implants both serve as good preventive maintenance procedures in dentistry and as anchors to support your teeth. Dental implants are one of the most commonly used treatments to replace missing teeth.
I am Amelia Grant, journalist, and blogger. I think that information is a great force that is able to change people’s lives for the better. That is why I feel a strong intention to share useful and important things about health self-care, wellness and other advice that may be helpful for people. Being an enthusiast of a healthy lifestyle that keeps improving my life, I wish the same for everyone.
Our attention to ourselves, to our daily routine and habits, is very important. Things that may seem insignificant, are pieces of a big puzzle called life. I want to encourage people to be more attentive to their well-being, improve every little item of it and become healthier, happier, stronger. All of us deserve that. And I really hope that my work helps to make the world better.