When you take consistently good care of your oral health, including sticking to your daily hygiene schedule and regular dental checkup appointments, you have a much better chance of preserving all of your healthy, natural smile. However, even the most attentive hygiene and preventive dental care routines are no guarantee that you’ll continuously prevent oral health concerns from developing, including those that can often lead to tooth loss. Today, we explore how you can tell if you might be at a higher risk of tooth loss than you realize, and why it’s important to address the concern for the good of your smile and oral health.
If you haven’t addressed a dental concern
The loss of an adult tooth doesn’t typically occur on its own. In most cases, it’s the result of an underlying oral health concern that’s been allowed to reach its more severe stages. Common conditions such as tooth decay and gum disease can grow progressively worse over time, leading to extensive damage to your tooth structure or the periodontal tissues around it (respectively). Because of this, your risks for losing a tooth are higher if you have a cavity or case of gingivitis that you have not yet sought treatment for.
If that dental concern is gum disease
While there are multiple oral health concerns that might lead to tooth loss, severe gum disease is the most frequent one. If the dental concern you exhibit is gingivitis, the early stage of gum disease, then your risks of losing one or more teeth to it are higher than for other oral health concerns. Treating gum disease as early as possible is the most effective way to mitigate any harm it can do to your gum tissues or the bone structure of your dental ridge, thereby mitigating your risks of tooth loss.
If you’ve lost a tooth already
One of the greatest risk factors for losing a tooth in the future is having one or more lost teeth already. The loss of your natural tooth structure causes several different detrimental impacts to your oral health and structures, including the loss of mass and density in your jawbone due to the loss of the tooth’s root. This can continue to weaken your jawbone structure and raise your risks of tooth loss unless you replace the lost tooth root with a dental implant post.
Learn if you’re at risk of tooth loss
There are certain things that could significantly raise your risk of losing a tooth, and it’s important to address them as soon as possible to preserve your smile. To learn more, schedule an appointment with us by calling Dreem Dentistry in Leawood, KS, today at 913-681-5500. We also serve patients who live in Overland Park and all surrounding communities.
