What Happens if I Don't Get a Dental Implant?

When you lose a tooth, there is an empty space that needs to be filled in for the sake of stability, functionality, and appearance. A common question people ask us is "what happens if I don't get a dental Implant?" Here you will find the answer.

Dental implant or leave gap?

Dental implants are one of the best ways to replace missing teeth and permanently restore your smile. 

The implants are small titanium screws attached to the jawbone or maxilla that take the place of the root of your missing tooth. The abutment and crown make the implant seamlessly integrate with your smile. Implants are the perfect solution even when you have lost multiple teeth or almost all of them.

Dental implants restore your chewing function while being a good aesthetic teeth replacement, yet many people avoid them. When given the option to choose a dental implant or leave a gap, you would think that everyone would choose the former. But that is not always the case. Reasons not to get dental implants are the expense and the fear of surgery. 

What happens if I don't get a dental Implant?

Patients are afraid of the surgical procedure and the recovery time, along with the hurt on their pocketbooks. However, not getting an implant will do more harm than good. 

1. You will end up losing significant jawbone mass.  

When you do not get a dental implant, your jaw will start getting weaker with each passing year. Waiting to get an implant will cause your bone density and height to decrease and start deteriorating. Does that sound bad? That is because it is. If you lose too much bone mass, you risk the bone collapsing on itself. This would pull on the muscles and tissues linked to it, and in the worst-case scenario, it can affect your facial anatomy. 

To fix the initial loss of mass, you would need a bone graft, which is more expensive than a dental implant and also more painful, adding another 3-4 months of recovery time. If you wait more than a year, you will lose a lot more bone mass. 

2. Your teeth may shift from their existing position. 

If you are wondering what happens if you have a tooth pulled and don’t replace it, the answer is a change in the positioning of your teeth. Your teeth do not and cannot function independently, they are a collective unit, and when one or more of them goes missing, all of them get affected. 

Each of your teeth provides support to the others as partners. When the partner's support is lost, the adjacent teeth have nothing to hold on to, and they start tipping toward the opening left by the missing tooth. Although it does not happen immediately, it will happen in due time and can cause chronic pain in your jaw. 

3. You will start experiencing bite problems. 

Another answer to what happens if you don't get a tooth implant is an imbalanced bite. If you are missing some teeth, especially at the back of your mouth, it can lead to an imbalanced bite. What this means is that when you chew, it causes uneven pressure on your teeth. As a consequence, some of the teeth wear off more than others. 

This puts unwanted stress and strain on your jaw, creating problems in the joints, muscles, and nerves. The impact can also affect your mouth, making you unable to fully open your mouth and limiting your ability to eat, swallow, chew, and talk.

4. You may get stress cracks. 

Over a lifetime, you may see small cracks on your teeth in the form of lines. They are a normal part of aging as the stress from chewing, biting, and grinding teeth can cause the enamel to crack at some point in time. However, missing teeth can accelerate the timeline of these stress cracks, making them appear sooner than later. 

As mentioned earlier, missing teeth can cause an imbalanced bite, which causes uneven wear and tear on your teeth. You may unconsciously favor one side of your bite more than the other. This leads to stress cracks. 

These cracks may appear inconsequential, but with cracked enamel, your teeth will become more prone to sensitivity and severe toothaches. 

So, get your dental implants as soon as you can. While the dental implant procedure may come with a slightly longer recovery time, it will most definitely save your teeth from further damage. 

How can Smile Select Dental help you? 

We provide dental implants that give you healthier teeth, better dental aesthetics, a nice smile, smooth masticatory function, and a natural feel. Our dentists have years of experience in performing dental implant surgeries and endeavor to provide you with a seamless transition from the lost tooth to the implant. From providing pre-surgical advice and a roadmap to post-implant care, we will take care of you at every turn. 

We also provide payment plans with easy monthly installments to help you overcome the financial constraint holding you back from restoring your smile. Call us at +(909) 334-4015 or visit our website to learn more about dental implants.