Our team at Ageless Smiles offer high-quality dental care for people missing one or more teeth, with cutting-edge technology and minimally invasive procedures. In our over 30 years of experience, we’ve helped clients regain their confidence through a holistic approach to dental care. If you’re curious about your treatment options for replacing your missing front teeth, we’ve outlined its main causes, how it can impact your life, and your options right here.
Key Takeaways
- Diseases, physical trauma, tooth decay, and genetic conditions can cause you to experience front tooth loss.
- Losing your front tooth or teeth can lead to teeth shifting, difficulty speaking, low self-confidence, and depression.
- There are several treatment options for a missing front tooth, including dentures, dental bridges, and dental implants.
What are The Causes Of Missing Front Teeth?
Missing front teeth can be caused by several factors, both physical and genetic, including:
- Periodontal Disease. Commonly known as gum disease, periodontitis affects around 20 to 50 per cent of the global population. While there are multiple forms of periodontal disease, its most severe forms can lead to tooth loss.
- Physical Trauma. One of the most frequent causes of a missing front teeth are physical trauma, usually accidents like falling or during sports.
- Tooth Decay. Infrequently, dental care and consumption of sugary drinks and food that break down tooth enamel can cause tooth decay and eventually lose your natural teeth.
- Genetic Conditions. Certain genetic conditions like hypodontia, congenital tooth deficiency, and other genetic factors can lead to mutations that lead to your missing one or more of your front teeth.
How do Missing Teeth Impact Your Life?
Missing teeth can severely impact your life, not only by affecting your oral health, but also isolating you from social and professional environments. In fact, missing front teeth has been shown to have an effect on your employability, reducing its chances by around 7%. These side effects include:
Teeth Shifting
A common occurrence when you are missing multiple teeth is called teeth shifting. Teeth shifting occurs when your adjacent teeth begin to move into the gap that your missing teeth left behind, which leads to several side effects like crooked teeth and bone loss in your jaw. To prevent the teeth on either side from filling the gap and ruining your smile, opting for a permanent tooth replacement like a dental plate for missing teeth may be necessary.
Difficulty Speaking
Lost teeth, especially the frontal incisors, can impact your speech. Your teeth and tongue play a vital role in forming many of the important syllables we use to communicate ideas in conversations and meetings, and missing one tooth or more may result in a loss of clarity. The upper front teeth are responsible for important consonants like sounds like “th” and “v” while the lower set helps you pronounce your “s” and “z” sounds.
You may also experience lisps and other distortions in your speech that are caused by air escaping.
Confidence
One of the biggest impacts that missing a front tooth can have is on your confidence, much more than if you were missing molar teeth. If your work and personal life involves socialising, it’s common to feel embarrassment and low self-confidence in situations where first impressions matter. Our team at Ageless Smiles has helped multiple clients find a solution for missing front teeth that will help restore your smile and confidence.
Mental Health
As a result of embarrassment, some patients can suffer from a decline in their mental health. One of the most common psychological impacts of missing front teeth are social isolation, anxiety, and depression. Depression and tooth loss are often paired together, with modern studies by Frontiers in Oral Health describing a potential strong relationship between poor mental health and complete tooth loss.
What are your Treatment Options For Missing Front Teeth?
You have several treatment and tooth solutions for replacing teeth that are missing, including dental implants, dental bridges, dentures, and resin-bonded bridges. We’ve found that all cases are different, making options for replacing missing teeth a personal journey between you and your trusted dentist. Here are a few common treatment options:
Dental Implants
Dental implants are a common way to replace a missing tooth and offer you a more natural look and feel. They are also one of the best tooth replacement options because of their longevity, lasting up to 15 years if they are properly maintained. A dental implant can also negate the bone loss and teeth shifting that occurs as a result of multiple missing teeth, which can reduce chances of future dental issues.
While dental implants are one of the best options for missing teeth, they do require surgery and longer recovery time (up to six months). Surgery involves securing a titanium post to act as the foundation of your implant, which can take time to heal. Dental implants also tend to cost more on average (between $2,600 and $4,000) with fewer insurance companies offering coverage.
Dental Bridges
A dental bridge offers you a more cost-effective method to help replace the teeth you’re missing. Instead of an implant, the replacement teeth are supported by the teeth either side of the missing ones. There are different kinds of dental bridges that offer a range of support including:
- Traditional Bridge. Anchored by crowns on both sides of your gap.
- Cantilever Bridge. Anchored by a crown on one side of your gap.
- Implant-Supported Bridge. Anchored by implants.
Dental bridges are the more affordable option and tend to be covered by insurance companies more frequently, without compromising on longevity (dental bridges can last up to 10 years). However, unlike dental implants, they do not prevent bone loss and the adjacent natural teeth can be weakened from supporting the dental bridge.
Dentures
Other types of treatment available to you are dentures, which are often the most affordable and non-invasive options for replacing a missing tooth. While dentures tend to be used as a temporary solution while you await a bridge or implant, they can serve as one of the best quick-fix options to restore your smile. You can wear a partial denture front tooth [for your] for several months without any negative repercussions.
Dentures will require you to take a more active role in their care, such as removing them during eating and regular maintenance and cleaning.
What Should you do if you have a Missing Front Tooth?
If you are missing a front tooth or teeth, you have several options available to you. For immediate replacement options for missing teeth, speak to your dentist about acquiring dentures, while you can prepare for investing in a dental bridge or implant. Dentures offer an immediate remedy for unexpected tooth loss, which means you can still ace that business meeting or presentation with a confident smile.
Once you’re prepared, you can consult to find the right tooth solution for you. Ageless Smiles has over 30 years of experience helping clients restore their smiles and sense of self, with QIP-accreditation to back our holistic dental care approach. If you want a supportive and approachable dental team with no judgement to help you with your missing front teeth, get in touch with us for an initial consultation today!
Missing Front Tooth Replacement Options FAQs
What is the Best Option For Missing Front Tooth?
The best option for a missing front tooth, or multiple missing front teeth, is a dental implant tooth replacement solution. Dental implants look and feel like your natural teeth, and can last for up to 15 years without the frequent maintenance required for dentures.
Can Ageless Smiles Assist with Dental Emergencies?
Yes, if you were involved in a sudden incident, and you’re looking to replace missing front teeth, then Ageless Smiles can help. We understand that dental trauma can have a very severe impact on your life, which is why we manage our appointment diary to accommodate time for emergency patients.
If you require urgent dental care, we encourage that you contact us as soon as possible in order to coordinate our team to match your needs and the gentle care that comes with it.
