How and Why to Replace Single or Multiple Teeth

Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Payson, Arizona

Missing teeth create many problems for you that extend beyond the cosmetic issues associated with a gap in your smile. If left untreated, missing teeth can cause serious oral health problems down the road, including:

• Shrinkage of gum tissue
• Shifting of neighboring teeth
• Damage to the roots of neighboring teeth
• Deterioration of your jawbone

Some of these problems may also result in the development of additional oral health conditions. For example, if your teeth begin to shift to fill in the gap left by your missing tooth, you might develop bite problems. Over time, these bite issues may lead to temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ), a painful condition marked by a misaligned jaw. Furthermore, it is common for food to become trapped in the spaces left by your missing teeth, increasing your risk of tooth decay, bone decay, and gum disease.

Untreated missing teeth can also cause severe jawbone deterioration. As your jawbone continues to disintegrate over time, it will become weaker and smaller, affecting your ability to chew. This may force you to alter your diet to include a disproportionately large percentage of soft or mashed foods, preventing you from receiving the proper nutrition to maintain good overall health.

In order to prevent many of these issues from arising, it is crucial that you take appropriate action to replace your missing teeth as soon as possible. Fortunately, Winterholler Dentistry offers a variety of options to correct this serious oral health problem.

Options to Replace Missing Teeth

You have several options to replace one or more missing teeth:

• Dental implants
• Dental bridges
• Dentures

At Winterholler Dentistry, we feel that dental implants provide you with the most effective method to replace your missing teeth. Whenever possible, we will recommend this course of treatment to ensure the greatest likelihood that you will maintain good oral health for years to come.

Dental implants replace your missing root along with your tooth. This helps preserve bone structure in your jaw, eliminating many of the oral health issues associated with bone deterioration. Since dentures and bridges do not replace the root, these options do not address the potential for future jawbone deterioration. Furthermore, your neighboring teeth will not be altered to accommodate your dental implant. This prevents surrounding teeth from becoming weaker over time, which eventually would lead to additional tooth loss. Dentures and dental bridges impact adjoining teeth, making them susceptible to additional damage over time.

Other benefits of dental implants include:

• Your implant will look, feel, and function just like your natural tooth
• You will not experience the slippage commonly associated with dentures that may impact your speech
• Dental implants are permanently rooted in your jawbone, enabling you to eat any foods you’d like
• Maintenance of your dental implants is very easy – you can brush and floss them just like natural teeth
• They are highly durable, and when properly cared for, they can last a lifetime

If you need to replace one or more missing teeth, please contact our Phoenix implant dentists today to schedule your initial appointment at Winterholler Dentistry, serving Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Payson, Arizona.