The extraction of a tooth may be necessary to protect the overall health of your mouth. If it is due to severe decay, gum disease, or crowding, the loss of a tooth can affect your smile and bite significantly. If tooth extraction is necessary, you should understand how the extraction affects your oral structure. You should understand what you can do in order to assist in maintaining a healthy and beautiful smile.
How Does Tooth Extraction Influence Your Bite?
Your teeth function harmoniously together to provide support for proper functioning. When a tooth is removed, your balance of bite is compromised. Some examples of how this can occur include:
- Shifting Teeth: After a lost tooth, the teeth positioned fanned out on both sides of it might start shifting into the open space. This shifting is associated with misalignment of the teeth, opening spaces in some and crowding in others.
- Changes in Bite Alignment: When a tooth is lost, the meeting of the upper and lower teeth changes because of the lost tooth. Misalignment of the bite can cause pain, difficulties in chewing, and, in the long run, may result in temporomandibular disorders.
- Worn Down Teeth: With one more tooth gone, other teeth will wear down excessively, as less support is left to chew with. This may lead to fractures, sensitivity, and ultimate damage.
- Jawbone Degeneration: The roots of your teeth stimulate the jawbone, making it strong and healthy. When one of the teeth is lost, the bone in that spot starts to degenerate, causing a change in facial structure.
Does Tooth Extraction Affect Your Face?
Yes, a tooth extraction in Dacula can affect your appearance. Your teeth help hold the muscles and tissues in your face, which give it shape and structure. When a tooth is removed, these alterations can happen:
- Sunken Cheeks: With time, loss of jawbones may make the cheeks appear sunken or hollow, giving you a more aged look.
- Lip Support Changes: Missing teeth may influence how your lips settle, causing a change in the shape of your smile and the symmetry of your face.
- Changed Jawline: Bone loss in the jaw will alter its shape, making the jawline weaker and less defined.
If you’re asking yourself, “Does a tooth extraction impact your face?”, the response is yes, but treatments like dental implants or bridges can help preserve facial structure and avoid these problems.
How Does Tooth Extraction Change Your Smile?
Your smile is among your most visible features, and a tooth that’s gone can really be noticeable in a negative way. Here’s why:
- Visible Gaps: If a front tooth is removed, it creates a noticeable gap in your smile, which can impact self-confidence.
- Loss of Symmetry: Not having even a single tooth can make your smile uneven.
- Effect on Speech: A few missing teeth, particularly front teeth, may change the manner in which you pronounce some words.
- Effects on Gum Health: Spaces left by missing teeth are prone to developing bacteria and plaque, making it more likely to develop gum disease and subsequent tooth loss.
While an extraction will alter your smile, many restorative procedures, including dental implants, bridges, and dentures, can restore both form and function. If you’re undergoing tooth extractions, it’s important to know how they’ll affect your bite and smile. Though extractions may produce changes in alignment, facial aesthetics, and overall oral function, contemporary dentistry provides great solutions to reverse the effects.
Restore Your Smile with Expert Care
At Quintero Periodontics, our skilled professionals give you top-notch care to keep your smile healthy and gorgeous. Whether you require an extraction or a restorative treatment, we’re there to ensure that you keep your best smile.
Call us today to arrange a consultation with a reliable periodontist in Dacula.
