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Take Action: First Steps after Tooth Loss
Cherrywood Dental • Sep 01, 2015
Don’t hide from tooth loss! We know how dental anxiety works, and understand that you might be caught in a harmful cycle. If your fear of the office kept you from scheduling regular exams and your health worsened, leading you to see tooth loss as a result, you’re going to struggle to schedule restorative care. But that’s exactly what we urge you to do.
The sooner you replace your lost tooth, the sooner you can regain your health, your smile, and your happiness. Read on to learn more about the short- and long-term benefits of speedy tooth replacement, and how Cherrywood Dental can help.
Why Replace Missing Teeth Today – and How to Do It
After you lose a tooth, the jaw bone in the area doesn’t have the same support it once did. This leads to the jaw bone resorbing, or dissolving. As time passes, you lose more of your jaw structure, putting your bones at greater risk of breaking and potentially altering your facial structure. In this way, tooth loss can actually lead to premature aging across your face.
If you’re ready to take the tooth replacement plunge, it’s time to get in touch with a restorative dentist. Here’s what your process might be like.
- First step: schedule a consultation – You’ll need to learn more about the state of health your mouth is in, and which treatments might be ideal. Your restorative dentist will take x-rays, perform a visual examination of your mouth, and have a thorough conversation with you about what you’d like to gain from the process.
- Preparation – If you’re replacing one or more lost teeth with dental implants, you might need to have a bone graft. If you have cavities or gum disease, we’ll also want to treat those before placing restorations. Patients with infections or abscesses also benefit from root canal therapy. These steps will help prevent any complications and get your oral health back on track to avoid future tooth loss.
- Receiving restorations – We will place your bridge, crowns, partial, dentures, or dental implants to rebuild the lost tooth structure!
- Healing – After treatment, you’ll need to spend some time healing and getting accustomed to your dental work while the restorations become integrated with your natural teeth.
- New smile – Your smile is complete and you feel ready for anything! You’ll be able to eat, speak, and smile just like you once did.