Teeth are very important to the overall health of your mouth, but also to protect your jawbone and help to maintain the overall strength of the area.
Missing teeth can often lead to much larger problems, including bone loss in the gap. Bone loss can start in the area of a missing tooth, but can easily spread making your surrounding teeth weak and causing the bone to degrade further in other areas of your mouth.
Issues that Can Accompany Tooth and Jaw Bone Loss
Here are some potential consequences to having missing teeth and how it can affect your mouth and jawbone overall
- Negative effects on remaining teeth such as loose teeth, loss of more teeth, misalignment of teeth
- Sagging facial areas, collapsed profile
- Loss of lip support
- Distortion of facial features
- TMJ jaw pain, headaches, facial pain
- Difficulty speaking
- Painful chewing
- Sinus expansion due to extra space
Your jawbone health is vital to taking care of your mouth and teeth health. Taking care of your teeth protects your jawbone and making sure holes or gaps are filled to prevent jawbone deterioration. Protecting your jawbone health will help you maintain normal activities such as chewing and biting food.