If you keep up with good dental hygiene and visit your dentist on a regular basis, then chances are you know a lot about keeping your smile healthy. However, that isn’t exactly the same as knowing what to expect when you’re faced with a serious oral health concern, especially those that could potentially cause you to lose one or more teeth. Today, we explain a few things that everyone should know about tooth loss, including the common reasons why it occurs for most people, and what to do to preserve your smile if it occurs.
How it happens (most of the time)
Many people assume that losing teeth is just a natural part of the aging process. This might seem to be reinforced if several or all of the older people in their family have already experienced it. However, tooth loss is neither inevitable nor hereditary. In fact, the most frequent cause of tooth loss is severe gum disease, which can affect nearly everyone without consistently good hygiene and preventive dental care practices. Other conditions that are caused by inadequate prevention, such as tooth decay, can also become severe enough to lead to tooth loss or the need for tooth extraction if not treated promptly enough.
How to prevent it from affecting your smile
Because the origins of many tooth loss cases lie with the state of your routine hygiene and preventive practices, improving these practices is one of the most effective ways to lower your risks of tooth loss. Though it may seem simple, it takes effort to thoroughly clean every surface of your teeth at least twice a day, and floss carefully between them all at least once every day. It also takes discipline to visit your dentist as often as recommended for preventive checkup and cleaning appointments, without delaying or canceling a single visit. Nevertheless, both are important tenets of keeping your smile healthy and avoiding some of the biggest and most common risks of tooth loss.
How to choose the right restoration if it happens
Tooth loss may be largely preventable, but it still remains a concern for a large percentage of adults. Fortunately, preventing tooth loss isn’t the only way in which you can preserve your healthy, natural smile. If you do experience tooth loss, the best way to restore your smile may be to replace your lost teeth with a dental implant-supported restoration. Dental implants are designed to mimic and replace your lost teeth roots, and provide similar comfort and stability when supporting your custom tooth replacement.
Learn about the different aspects of tooth loss
There’s more to tooth loss than many people realize, from the variety of what could potentially cause it, to how to effectively rebuild your smile after it occurs. To learn more, schedule an appointment or initial consultation by calling Advanced Dental Concepts in Auburn Hills, MI, today at (248) 852-1820.
