Losing teeth as a child is a natural occurrence. If you are losing teeth as an adult, however, that is indicative of a much bigger concern. In fact, the development of adult structures should be permanent and they will not grow back once gone. So, what could be the reason? The answer, unfortunately, is a variety of things. You could be experiencing disease or infection that is causing them to fall out, or you may have experienced some sort of physical damage that knocked them out. Regardless of the circumstance, sometimes a tooth needs to be removed when it comes to preserving your health, and your Baxter, MN dentist at Greenhaven Family Dental is here to explain why.
The Tooth is Beyond Repair
For many dental concerns, there is an exhaustive list of steps that is followed in order to try and restore the structure as best as possible. For example, if a tooth is affected by a cavity, the first step would be to attempt to fill it with a composite filling. If the decay has progressed past a certain extent, however, this restoration could fail, meaning the next step would need to be taken. If a tooth is experiencing a significant amount of decay, your dentist may consider removing the decay and covering it with a dental crown. Once oral bacteria have infected a structure so severely, however, that could even fail, resulting in the last effort to preserve your health, which would be extraction.
Dental extraction is often nobody’s first choice, and is only recommended if all other attempts at restoration would fail. For instance, impacted wisdom teeth are a common circumstance in which removal is warranted. Other circumstances include if the root is severely fractured, if a structure lacks periodontal support due to deterioration and gum disease, and if it suffers from extreme infection in which a root canal procedure would be irrelevant.
It Impacts Your Daily Function
With routine preventive care visits, minor concerns can be identified and treated before turning into major concerns. If you begin to experience discomfort, aching, sensitivity, or overall pain, chances are that this issue has been a problem for some time. Indeed, severe discomfort is a sign of progressed infection, and if it begins to significantly impact your daily routine, you should consider seeing your dentist immediately.
Your Other Structures Are at Stake
When a tooth is lost to infection and the gap is not filled, your chances of losing surrounding teeth increases drastically. Just because the structure is gone does not mean the infection is, and oral bacteria tend to thrive between areas that are warm, moist, and difficult to clean.
Schedule Your Visit
Though it is nobody’s first choice, sometimes it takes losing a tooth to preserve your oral health. Contact Greenhaven Family Dental in Baxter, MN by calling (218) 454-0523 today to learn more or schedule an appointment.