Can Missing Teeth Alter Your Facial Structure?
Your smile and the symmetry of your face greatly influence the first impressions you make. Just a single missing tooth can mar your smile, upset facial balance, and alter how others perceive you.
Factors That Contribute to Facial Shape
While every face is unique, there are fundamental facial types, such as diamond, oval, and square. Factors that determine your facial type include length, width, forehead, cheekbones, and jawline.
How Your Teeth Affect That Shape
The more symmetrical a face, the more attractive it is perceived by the average person. Relationships contribute to that symmetry, such as the relationship between overall length and width and the relationship between your forehead and cheekbones. Your teeth support these proportions. They also contribute to the angle running from your ears to your chin. A person with a prominent angle is considered to have a strong jawline. Problems with your teeth—both congenital and acquired—can negatively affect your shape. Such issues can include missing teeth, a misaligned jaw, crooked teeth, or an overbite. Even short teeth—which can happen due to grinding—can collapse the bite, thus moving the bite forward, which can give a face an appearance that people often describe as hollow or sunken.
The Negative Impact of Missing Teeth
If you open and close your mouth, your teeth are the first parts to touch. Teeth are important not just for chewing and speaking but for lengthening the face and providing a buffer between the upper and lower jawbone. Without those teeth present, a mouth can close even further. Another issue is that your teeth actually provide stimulation to your jaw. If your teeth and thus that stimulus are missing for an extended period, your jawbone will actually shrink, and your face will be flattened.
A missing tooth is still a big deal, even if someone else cannot see it. People often believe that if a missing tooth is inconspicuous, such as a molar, then it does not matter, but those teeth still play a part in determining the face and jaw structure. Front teeth tend to play a bigger role in defining facial muscles, while the back teeth tend to have more influence on the jawline and overall jaw structure.
Teeth Can Shift and Alter Your Bite
Teeth help to maintain the position of their adjacent teeth. If there is a gap where a tooth should be, then a neighboring tooth can drift out of its ideal position. Such drifting not only affects that particular arch but can cause the upper and lower teeth to become misaligned, which can shorten the face and lead to a deeper bite. Teeth do not have to be completely gone to allow such drifting. A tooth with decay will lose structure, which can allow similar movement to occur as well.
Missing Teeth and Your Jawbone
The stimulation mentioned earlier occurs from your tooth roots when you chew. If the roots no longer serve a purpose or are missing, the bone matter that held the root starts to deteriorate. Over time, such deterioration can lead to the jawbone shrinking and losing its shape. Since the jawbone does play such a pivotal role in facial structure, that alteration will often cause a face to be less symmetrical.
Correcting Missing Teeth
There are several ways to correct missing teeth, including dentures, bridges, and implants. While dentures and bridges will maintain facial structure, implants are the most effective option. Since implants are embedded into the jawbone, they provide stimulation just as a real tooth root would. Implants also mimic the strength and compatibility of a natural tooth.
Avoiding Tooth Loss
The keys to avoiding tooth loss that occurs due to tooth decay and gum disease include daily brushing and flossing and regular visits to your dentist—even when your teeth feel fine. Plaque is the main culprit of eventual tooth loss, and it is imperative to keep it in check. Your dentist will remove any tartar that you missed and can identify trouble indicators long before they manifest into actual problems.
Avoid Tooth Loss or Correct It
If you are missing one tooth or multiple teeth, Jeffrey D. Clark, DDS, can examine your mouth, explore your options, and help you choose the ideal treatment for you. The best option is often dental implants, but our practice also offers bridges, dentures, and other solutions. Dr. Clark and his team can also provide all the preventative care needed to ensure that you never lose a tooth due to tooth decay or gum disease. You can reach Scottsdale Cosmetic Dentistry Excellence at 480 585 1853. Call us today to schedule an appointment or with any questions that you may have about our services.
