What Should You Do If You Lose a Tooth?
What Happens if You Lose a Tooth? There are many ways to lose a tooth. We all remember being kids and losing our baby teeth. That’s a normal part of life. But what happens when you lose a tooth as an adult? There are millions of ways we lose our adult teeth.
As humans we only get two sets of teeth. The first set are our baby teeth. Our second set are our adult teeth. If you lose any of your adult teeth, that’s it. You won’t grow a third set. Most mammals have either diphyodont dentition (two sets of teeth) or monophyodont dentition (only one set of teeth). Unlike crocodiles that can regenerate the same tooth 50 times. Or Sharks, that can have unlimited sets of teeth.
So, what happens if you lose a tooth? More specifically an adult tooth? Well, thanks to modern medicine you have a few options.
What Happens if You Lose a Tooth? Do Nothing
You could just live your life with a missing tooth or missing teeth! It will definitely help you stand out. In all seriousness though, you could do nothing, but it’s not recommended. For starters, you will have bone loss in that area over time. Secondly, the surrounding teeth can start growing in different directions. Luckily, you have more options.
Get a Partial Denture
What Happens if You Lose a Tooth? You could get a partial denture. However, this option won’t keep the bone level where it should be. Also, you’ll need to remove this application every night before bed. The good news is that it will fill the gap of your missing tooth. This way you won’t have to tell your wife that you lost your tooth while you were fighting crime in Gotham.
But wait! There’s more! You still have a few options left, you crime fighter you!
What Happens if You Lose a Tooth? Get a Bridge
This is one of the better options available to you. The problem with a dental bridge is the following. Let’s say you’re missing a tooth, but next to that missing tooth you have two perfectly good teeth. The way a bridge works, much like its name is by creating a bridge.
The two healthy teeth will be crowned and in between will be your new tooth. Your two healthy teeth are used to hold and support your new tooth by creating a bridge between these three teeth. However, if something goes wrong in the future with one or both of the two teeth supporting your new middle tooth, then you lose the whole bridge.
Also, if the other two teeth are healthy, you’re now putting crowns on them when they didn’t require them in the first place. Crowning requires drilling and changing your teeth so that they fit crowns over them. You’re sacrificing two healthy teeth for the sake of one missing tooth.
Still, even if you go this route, you will lose bone in the area of the missing tooth. So, what should you do? It seems like we keep giving you options, but they all seem to have cons. Not to worry because we still have two great options left!
Dental Implants
This option is better when compared to the others. Why? For starters, it’s a stand-alone crown. That means you don’t have to alter any of the other surrounding teeth to receive a dental implant, since it doesn’t require other teeth to stay in place. Also, this method does keep the bone level.
However, while this is usually a better option when compared to the previously listed, sometimes the bone is not wide enough to place an implant. Meaning that not everyone will be a candidate for dental implants. Some patients may not be candidates for dental implants for other reasons.
The best way to find out if you’re eligible for dental implants, is to provide your dentist with a comprehensive health history. Secondly, dentists will always perform a CT scan before giving you a dental implant. The scan will give your dentist a 3d visual of your jaw. With your health history along with the scan your dentist will be able to determine if you’re a candidate for dental implants.
But what if you’re not eligible for implants. Not to worry, your dentist will discuss the best option available to you! Speaking of options, below is your final option.
Don’t Fight Crime in Gotham
We all know the best person fit for this job is Bruce Wayne… I mean Batman! All you have to do is shine the Bat-Signal in the night sky. Although it will probably be an expensive light bill. Also, we’re not sure what to do during daytime crimes in Gotham.
All jokes aside. If you do lose a tooth, consult with your dentist as soon as possible. Remember that you do have options available to you depending on your unique case. With Santa Clarita Advanced Dentistry, you can even schedule your own appointment. Just click here.
Conclusion
I think we all know that humans only get two sets of teeth, and if you didn’t you learned that here today! We discussed a few options available to you should you lose a tooth. And I think we might have ruined Bruce Waynes cover as Batman.
We Hope this article was informative. If you need to check out our services, click here. Remember the 4 options you have should you lose a tooth are:
- Do Nothing
- Get a Partial Denture
- Get a Dental Bridge
- Get a Dental Crown
