While you may still be able to smile, speak, and eat with missing teeth, it is never ideal to put up with gaps or spaces between your teeth. Apart from them being a dating turn off, missing teeth can also make you feel less attractive and confident. You may also feel shy or embarrassed to flash your smile or try to hide your teeth when talking or laughing in front of others.
Social and personal consequences
Losing a tooth and not replacing it can also form barriers to both personal and social success. It may make you feel inhibited from doing or pursuing what you want, which may then cause you to miss out a number of important things. There is also a stigma against tooth loss (particularly with front teeth) or having bad teeth in general, with repercussions like:
Loss of job or social opportunities
Failure to get promotions
Negative first impressions
Low chances of scoring a second date or attracting a potential mate
All of these consequences have a relation to how missing teeth affect different aspects of your life. Dental implant centers in South Jordan note that when losing your teeth, you also lose your natural smile, which can negatively affect:
Your appearance or facial aesthetics – Losing multiple teeth may cause your bone to shrink, leading to premature aging on the face
The way you feel about your smile and yourself – This may result in low self-esteem and cause you to hide your smile in photos and videos
Your ability to eat certain foods – This compromises your diet, nutrition, and overall health
Your speech – Large gaps and missing teeth can make it difficult for you to pronounce some words; it may also cause slurring or spitting when talking
The positioning of your teeth – Missing teeth cause the adjacent or other teeth to shift and fill in the gaps or empty spaces in between
You could lose more teeth
With missing teeth, there is also the risk of missing more teeth because of the loss of jawbone tissue. This weakens the support structure of the neighboring teeth, increasing their likelihood of loosening or falling out. You should also know that missing teeth could cause bite irregularities or crooked teeth, which can lead to a variety of problems such as:
Headaches
The unnatural wearing of the teeth
Tooth sensitivity
Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD)
Crooked teeth, which are a result of choppers shifting due to tooth loss, are also more difficult to brush or clean properly. This can then lead to the accumulation of plaque and bacteria, increasing your risk of tooth decay and gum disease. You may also have to get an orthodontic treatment to fix any misalignment in your teeth.
What you can do
There is no reason to put up with missing teeth when there are stable replacement solutions like dental implants. These are better than conventional dentures, as they have an artificial tooth root that eventually fuses with the jawbone. They also look, feel, and function like the real thing and will not slip, click, or fall out when you’re smiling, talking, or laughing.
You can turn to implants for replacing a single tooth or multiple teeth, as they can be used to support a denture or a bridge. This offers both comfort and peace of mind, particularly in enjoying activities without worrying about teeth.
Don’t let missing teeth cause you to miss important things. Contact a dental implant center today to find out how these replacement solutions can improve your quality of life.
