For your jaw bone to be healthy, your teeth have to be strong and in oral hygiene. So, if some of your teeth are missing, you will have serious jawbone problems. Aside from affecting your self-esteem, missing or crooked teeth will make eating hard. It also impacts the face in many ways. Sadly, most of these effects of missing teeth on the face and jawbone are costly to reverse. By understanding how missing or crooked teeth affect the general shape and wellbeing of your jaw and face, you will be able to learn the best practices to take care of your teeth so that they can remain strong and healthy for the longest time. This article reviews the importance of properly working teeth for jaw health.
Jawbone Stimulation
The same way we work out to stimulate our muscles, your bone tissue needs to be stimulated regularly through natural activities such as chewing. When you bite or chew, your teeth imbedded in the jawbone stimulate the bone tissue, keeping the bone strong and healthy. In the absence of teeth, the alveolar bone, which anchors your natural teeth, won’t receive the needed stimulation, and therefore it will begin to collapse or resorb. Your body translates the lack of stimulation as a sign that your body no longer needs the jawbone; hence it depreciates and goes away.
Balanced Bite
A balanced bite is necessary for the overall health and shape of your jaw. For you to have a balanced bite, your teeth have to be appropriately structured and positioned. Even a single missing tooth will have an adverse effect on your bite. It may not be noticeable at first, but the neighboring teeth will shift in an attempt to fill the gap over time. Consequently, your lower and upper teeth will begin to hit each other incorrectly when you bite or chew, increasing the risk of cracked or chipped teeth. You will also experience changes in your bite when your jawbone shrinks. So, for your low and upper jaws to continue working flawlessly, you need to have well-organized teeth. Some crooked bites require complex surgical procedures, while others can easily be fixed with dental bridges. In summary, your teeth play a critical role in keeping your jaw healthy and strong. Having a missing tooth may not cause many changes to your appearance, but it will cause long-term problems that will be costly to fix.