What do you risk if you lose a tooth and don’t get an implant quickly?

When we lose a tooth, the negative consequences are not only of an aesthetic nature. If we delay the insertion of an implant after a tooth extraction, the problems we will face worsen over time, and the treatment will be more difficult, more expensive and longer. Dentist Sorina Stroe, university assistant doctor, explains what exactly happens when we spend too much time with missing teeth and what risks we thus expose ourselves to.

“Losing one or more teeth represents an extremely unpleasant moment in the life of every person, regardless of the reason for which we ended up with the extraction. Therefore, most of the time, patients focus on getting over the moment, ignoring the continuation of the treatment plan and replacing the missing teeth. This, however, will only make the rehabilitation process more difficult, given its consequences”declares dentist Sorina Stroe.

Why does bone loss occur?

“Among the consequences, we list first the continuous bone loss that occurs after tooth extraction. Delaying the insertion of the implant causes us to lose bone, and the reason why this is extremely bad is that an implant should be interpreted similar to a screw that has two coordinates, thickness and length. The more the amount of bone decreases, the more the two coordinates will also decrease, thus ending up with a thinner and/or shorter implant, which decreases its lifespan. The longer and thicker an implant, the longer it will last”explains dentist Sorina Stroe.

Are there solutions to bone loss?

“Of course, if we don’t have enough bone, we can increase the amount of bone by means of bone addition procedures, but these bring an additional cost and a longer healing time, including increasing the level of complexity of the interventions”adds dentist Sorina Stroe.

Neighboring teeth change their position

“From another point of view, in the context of tooth extraction, there are also changes in the position of the antagonistic neighboring teeth, due to the lack of interdental contact points. Thus, horizontally, the teeth can tilt or migrate, and vertically, they will migrate, seeking contact with the lost tooth. The teeth do not know that one or more “neighbors” no longer exist, and in their need for contact, they will continue to search.

This is the reason why the space related to the missing tooth that we will want to replace with the implant shrinks, putting us in difficult situations when we finally want to achieve it. We will find ourselves in a situation where we will either have to make aesthetic and functional compromises (smaller teeth, within the limits of the available space), or we will be forced to resort to more complex, expensive and long-lasting solution methods. I am talking here about an orthodontic treatment to straighten the teeth or about invasive procedures such as selective grinding or even coronoplasty, i.e. dressing the teeth with dental crowns to recreate the space needed for the missing tooth”says dentist Sorina Stroe.

Why not postpone going to the doctor?

“The more we delay going to the doctor, the problems do not resolve themselves, but, on the contrary, advance against us. In the long term, all the negative effects will spread to the teeth in general, giving rise to more serious problems. My advice is, therefore, not to put off going to the doctor. Come let’s solve problems as quickly as possible after they arise!”, concludes dentist Sorina Stroe.