There are many reasons why one of your teeth might fall out or need to be removed, including trauma to the mouth, advanced tooth decay, and periodontal disease. It can be difficult to adjust to the change if you have lost a single tooth or had one removed. You might be self-conscious about how your smile looks; you may even have trouble eating or speaking. Life without a tooth can be challenging, but there’s good news: you have many options to replace it!
Here are three options for replacing a single tooth that we can perform at any of American Dental’s 8 locations in the Chicago area:
Dental Bridge
Our team often repairs a damaged tooth with a crown to stabilize and protect it. Unfortunately, if the tooth is missing completely, a crown is not an option. What we can do is install a bridge. In this procedure, the two neighboring teeth are prepared for crowns. Then, an appliance is installed over the top, including the missing tooth between them.
This is an excellent, cost-effective method of replacing a single missing tooth, but it has some drawbacks. First, two healthy teeth will need to be prepped for crowns, meaning they must be ground down so the crown can fit on top of them. Second, the edges of the bridge appliance can sometimes harbor bacteria, so you will need to take extra care in keeping your appliance clean to prevent decay from occurring in the healthy teeth where it is attached.
Removable Partial Denture
A partial denture is another lower-cost option if you want to replace your tooth while keeping all its neighboring teeth intact. In this procedure, a replica of your missing tooth is created and affixed to an appliance similar to a denture or retainer. This appliance will fit around the neighboring teeth to fill in the gap. The appliance can be removed for cleaning, eating, or as a fun party trick.
While your removable partial denture can serve as a perfect visual replacement, it won’t be able to mimic the function of your natural tooth. You will need to be careful when eating to prevent damaging it, and it could potentially move out of place or fall out of your mouth. For this reason and others, a removable partial denture should always be taken out when sleeping or in other situations where it could cause issues.
Dental Implant
Dental implants are the gold standard of restorative dentistry for the best performance and appearance. Not only can a dental implant be used to replace a single tooth without damaging any neighboring teeth, but it also perfectly mimics the appearance and function of your natural teeth.
Dental implants are usually the best option for replacing a missing tooth, but they are not suitable for every patient. Generally, they are the highest-cost option, requiring a titanium post grafted into the jawbone to which a crown-like appliance will be attached. This requires surgery and a significant recovery time, during which the titanium post will be visible in your mouth. You must also be healthy enough for your surgery and recovery. As such, we do not recommend dental implants for some patients, like those with difficulty healing and those with advanced bone loss in the jaw.
Best Option to Replace a Missing Tooth
If you have a missing tooth you want to replace, the best thing to do is speak to a dentist specializing in restorative dentistry. At American Dental, we are qualified to perform all the restorative dentistry procedures listed above and more, so get in touch with us by calling (773) 284-1645 or by scheduling online if you are interested in dental implants in Belmont Cragin or anywhere else in Chicagoland.