How Is A Tooth Held In The Mouth?

As an oral surgeon, I want to share with you a question I often get asked, “How is a tooth held in the mouth?” Well, it’s actually not very complicated. The tooth itself is held in the mouth with a ligament. That ligament is called the periodontal ligament, its a junction between the bone and the tooth, it almost works like a shock absorber or a little cushion. That’s why when you bite hard, you can almost feel like there is a little bit of a give in your teeth and its not just a hard surface on a hard surface. But that periodontal ligament is also a very important structure because it’s what holds that bone and that tooth together and when you have periodontal disease, that’s what lost. So as we lose more and more of our periodontal ligament around the tooth, the support of that tooth becomes less and therefore the teeth start to feel like they become loose and when they become loose, the bad news is that there is no way to improve that situation or return that periodontal ligament because once it’s gone, it’s gone. So what holds a tooth in your mouth? Well, its bone but it’s bone being connected to this thing called the periodontal ligament. And that ligament is really, really important.