When you have recently lost a tooth, you may feel as though the whole world has become focused on your missing tooth. It might make you feel self-conscious or uncomfortable in your daily life and it could even impact the ways in which you can chew or eat. However, you do not have to keep feeling that way. There are steps that you can take to deal with your missing tooth and make yourself feel better sooner rather than later. Get to know some of these steps to take so that you can be sure you deal with your missing tooth in the best way possible.
Go to Your Dentist for a Checkup
One of the first steps that you will want to do when you have recently lost a tooth is to schedule a checkup with your dentist. Let them know that you have recently lost a tooth and you want to have a checkup.
When you do see your dentist, they will check on the health of your surrounding teeth, take x-rays, and evaluate whether the tooth came out cleanly or not. The x-rays will help to determine whether or not your jawbone was damaged when you lost your tooth and will check for injuries to the surrounding teeth as well.
Once you have your checkup, you will be able to then potentially proceed with tooth replacement options.
Consider Your Options
Once you know the overall state of your dental health, you can determine which tooth replacement option would be best for you. Some of the options include:
Dental Bridge
A dental bridge is one option available to you when you have lost one tooth. As long as that missing tooth has two healthy teeth surrounding it, you can get a dental bridge. The bridge attaches to the two teeth immediately surrounding the missing tooth. The replacement tooth is then essentially strung across the space where your original tooth was located. This is considered to be a permanent option for your tooth replacement as the surrounding teeth are filed down for the bridge to be anchored to it.
Dental Implant
If your jawbone and your surrounding teeth are all in good shape after your tooth loss, you may be able to get a dental implant to replace your missing tooth. Dental implants are the most realistic tooth replacements. They consist of two different components. The first is the implant itself which is a device that looks like a screw. It is implanted into the jawbone and acts like the root of the tooth.
The end of the dental implant has an abutment. The replacement tooth, which is usually made of either porcelain or a composite material, is then attached to the implant. This creates an extremely realistic looking and feeling tooth replacement that can give you your smile back.
Now that you know more about what you should do when you have lost a tooth, you can be sure that you contact your dentist right away to get the help you need. Contact a clinic, like Eatontown Dental Care, for more help.
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