Option 1: Do Nothing The first option we see is to do nothing. As Robert Gammal (one of the experts we interviewed in the HealThy Mouth World Summit) put it so eloquently in his Aussie accent, “The...

Your Five Options If You Have A Missing Tooth

Fumetti e Cartoni Animati postato da lilyeven12 || 5 anni fa

Option 1: Do Nothing The first option we see is to do nothing. As Robert Gammal (one of the experts we interviewed in the HealThy Mouth World Summit) put it so eloquently in his Aussie accent, “There’s nothing wrong with going ‘gappy’.” While we appreciate Dr. Gammal’s willingness to make light of such a situation, having a missing tooth over time may cause some trouble. That’s because teeth are placeholders for one another. If a tooth is missing for a prolonged time, other teeth that are adjacent to or opposite from it (think top to bottom) may shift and change the bite. More proof that we can’t address one part of the body without affecting the whole system! When we have a missing tooth, then our other teeth can move, thus impacting the bite of that whole side of the mouth. Another drawback of doing nothing is that you will no longer be able to stress the jaw bone at the location of the missing tooth. This results in an increased risk of losing bone density at that site. Depending on what tooth is missing, doing nothing can compromise one’s ability to effectively use that side of the mouth for chewing. Clearly, another application of ‘use it or lose it’ suggests that we must chew on both sides of the mouth if we want to keep our teeth and jaw bones strong, healthy and functional. On a positive note, doing nothing means that you aren’t introducing any crazy, potentially toxic materials into your system. Another positive to doing nothing is that the area will be easy to clean around, something that can become an issue with the following options. Option 2: Traditional Bridgework traditional bridgeFor years, conventional dentistry has encouraged traditional bridgework as the ‘go-to’ answer for a missing tooth. Despite the fact that bridgework has been a common solution for years, we are not particularly keen on this for several reasons: It’s important to understand the general idea of traditional bridgework. (We apologize upfront to any dental professionals if we misstate the technical aspects.) In traditional bridgework, the teeth on either side of the gap are ground down to ‘posts’ in order to attach the fixed bridge. One main issue we have with traditional fixed bridges is that if either of the two anchor teeth become compromised, you don’t lose one tooth – you lose the whole bridge. What’s more, the anchor teeth must be compromised by radically stripping away much of the outer tooth structure to prep for the bridge turbine air compressor. It should be no surprise then that we’ve heard numerous stories from our community about this exact situation occurring. Once one of the two anchor teeth become compromised, the person is faced with the situation of losing three teeth–or essentially their entire chewing capability on that side. Another challenge of traditional fixed bridges is the ability to clean under the bridge. You can’t easily floss the area around a bridge. So how is someone expected to be able to disrupt and disorganize the bad bugs in the gum pockets all the way around the two anchor teeth? If I had a traditional bridge in my mouth, I know an oral irrigator (think Waterpik or Hydro Floss) would be my ‘go-to’ tool to maintain healthy tissues around those anchor teeth! You simply cannot clean around or under a bridge easily Dental Chair. Oil pulling could be very helpful here, though not a solution. Now, let’s go back to the ‘use it or lose it’ principle. With a bridge, the jaw bone under the bridge is not going to get exercised. Finally, you are essentially asking two anchor teeth to do the work of three teeth with a traditional bridge. Asking an already challenged tooth (from the stress of being prepped to carry the bridge) to do half the work of another tooth is a lot to expect. What are the upsides to traditional bridgework? You have a full chewing surface! Though not perfect, that’s plenty to celebrate! If you have a traditional bridge now, do everything you can to maintain healthy gum tissue around those anchor teeth dental equipment. You may want to check out our HealThy Mouth System to gain the knowledge and tools you need to care for potentially deepening gum pockets around those anchor teeth. Option 3: Implants Capped Implant ModelI don’t think it will come as a surprise to any of you that we are not fans of implants. I remember hearing about implants many years ago; I have felt intuitively ever since that something just didn’t make sense about the idea. With an implant, the dental specialist places a post (most commonly titanium) into the jawbone at the site of the missing tooth. After they determine that the post ‘was accepted’ by the body, then a crown is placed on the post.