We all know how important our teeth are. We have grown up listening to our parents advice to brush our teeth, don’t eat chocolates or else you will end up looking like grandpa soon, etc,.
We are horrified even to imagine ourselves without teeth. Even as a child when we lose our milk tooth, we try to avoid talking to others. Everyone knows that losing teeth leads to problems in eating, speaking and even the esthetics (looks). But there are other effects which go unnoticed.
When you have a missing tooth, it will probably alter your appearance, but did you know that it could have a plethora of other effects that have nothing to do with how you look?
FACIAL STRUCTURE
Teeth are embedded in the jaw bone, when the tooth is lost the supporting bone starts to disintegrate or shrinks in size. When multiple teeth are missing, the amount of jaw bone shrinkage is high which in turn affects the appearance of facial structure. This affects the appearance of how the face “drapes” over the bone. Facial sagging makes you look older, which is due to shrinkage in the upper and lower jaw bones further it may cause profound emotional effects on individual.
TEMPERO-MANDIBULAR JOINT PROBLEMS
The full sets of teeth are necessary to maintain the balanced occlusal level. When teeth are lost, the opposing teeth tend to close in abnormal posture creating unnatural pressure/force on jaw joint. This in turn results in pain in the jaw joint and also unexplained headache.
PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT
When people lose their teeth, they often try to hide their missing teeth, covering their mouth with hands, avoid eating in public and even totally disengaging from social situations to avoid any potential embarrassment. The physical and psychological effects of tooth loss can be hugely damaging to a person’s overall well-being.
That’s why, even if you are missing a tooth in the back of your mouth and it isn’t visible, you still need to consider getting it replaced.
Unless you are in grade school, missing teeth are not adorable. Truth be told, they are truly unattractive. In addition, they will make your face look more OLDER. Missing teeth can really bring about untimely wrinkles.
