If you have suffered the extraction of a tooth, either through disease, injury, or usual wear and tear then you will be interested in reading this article. There are mulitple reasons to replace you missing teeth. After completing this article you will be able to easily explain how missing teeth can negatively impact your ability to chew food or speak properly, harm your appearance, and make you feel bad about yourself.

Chewing

Chewing, or mastication is affected negatively by missing teeth. The teeth in your mouth evolved to present a united and complete surface for breaking down and grinding your food. Missing teeth leave gaps that can make it hard to effectively break down certain types of food. Once you replace the tooth you will find that you can go back to eating almost anything you like.

Appearance

Aesthetics are a big concern with missing teeth, especially when the culprit is in the front of the mouth or easily visible when you smile. Even with the mouth closed the gap left by an extracted tooth can cause an indentation in the skin of the face. This can make your lips or cheeks look bad, but is easily fixed by replacing the tooth.

Speaking and Pronouncing

Depending on where the teeth are missing, you may have trouble pronouncing certain words. This is because to properly form certain sounds and parts of our speech, our tongues work together with the teeth to form shapes for the sound to pass through. When there is an unwanted gap the tongue may not be able to form a properly seal, resulting in slurring or lisping sounds.

Self Esteem

Probably the biggest reason people want to replace teeth that have been removed is that they feel bad about their appearance. Modern society can be quite cruel and unforgiving to people whose appearance differs from the norm. If you feel like an outcast because of your missing teeth then it is probably time to make an appointment with your dentist or oral surgeon to talk about dentures or implants.

Solutions

There are a number of treatments that can solve your problem. For a long time, the most common way to replace your teeth was by wearing a prosthetic appliance called a denture. Dentures are removable pieces that can either replace the entire top or bottom set of teeth (called a full denture) or simply fill in a few gaps (called a partial denture.)

The other main solution is dental implantation. In this surgical procedure a titanium implant is permanently affixed to the bone in your jaw, replacing the root of the tooth that was once there. The implant can then be topped with a natural looking porcelain tooth that looks nearly identical to the real thing.

As you can see, there are a number things to consider when looking at replacing your missing teeth. From chewing and appearance issues, to problems with pronunciation and self-worth, it is well worth considering scheduling a consultation with your local dentist or oral surgeon.