You can lose a tooth at any age through trauma, rough sports, gum disease or advanced tooth decay. The space that is left needs to be filled for the following reasons,

• A missing tooth can alter your smile and appearance.
• Adjacent teeth to the gap can lean into the space and alter the way the upper and lower teeth bite together.
• Speech can be affected.
• The shape of your face can change when you lose a tooth due to loss of bone.
• Gum disease and tooth decay can occur as a result of food accumulating in the gap.

The most common ways of replacing a missing tooth or teeth are Bridges, Dental Implants and Dentures. The advantages of dental implants are:

• The support for a bridge is the neighbouring teeth, even if they are still healthy. Therefore healthy tooth tissue is being compromised.
• The missing tooth root is not replaced.
• When there is no tooth root, bone loss occurs and this can gradually compromise the fit of a denture.
• Ill-fitting dentures cannot only be painful but they can cause difficulties with eating and speaking.

To watch an animated treatment procedure click here >>