This article will answer the following questions:

• What are the causes of early tooth loss?
• What is the direct cause of tooth loss?
• How to take care of our denture properly?

It’s natural that we would like to relax or eat out in public with our family or friends, as well as enjoying a theatre play without worries. Unfortunately, losing our Teeth makes our everyday life more difficult, and constantly covering our teeth can become a serious mental burden.

Can we ever have a great time again, without the embarrassing covering of our teeth? How can we eat in public again? The solution to this problem has kept people’s minds occupied for a long time.

The first finding of a fake set of teeth originates from the 8th century BC, from the territory of the former Etruscan Empire. This special prosthesis was made of animal teeth. This solution turned out to be so efficient that missing teeth were mainly replaced in this way until the 1800s.

In the 1700s, teeth made of special tusks also appeared – the most famous person who wore a set of teeth made of carved hippopotamus ivory was George Washington.

At the beginning of the 19th century, when the use of sugar became more widespread, the demand for Tooth replacement became bigger. Besides the prostheses made of carved animal teeth, human teeth were also used in order to achieve a life-like appearance. The human teeth mainly belonged to prisoners sentenced to death and dead soldiers.

Nowadays, there are several possibilities for tooth replacement. Thanks to modern procedures, the implants fit completely into the line of our remaining, intact teeth, while the complete implantation looks just like our original set of teeth.

Losing teeth can happen to anyone. Would you have thought that Gordon Ramsay, Demi Moore and Tom Cruise all wear prosthesis?

What are the causes of early tooth loss?

Unfortunately, losing teeth is a very common problem – according to the results of an International survey, people between the age of 50 and 64 have 23 permanent teeth on average instead of 32.

Factors that increase the probability of losing teeth include: age above 35 years, being male, skipping the regular dental check-ups, skipping brushing the teeth, diabetes, high blood pressure and rheumatoid arthritis.

According to a survey, 3 out of 10 patients who need tooth implants smoke or used to smoke. 60% of the patients brushed their teeth only occasionally, while 16% brushed them two times a day.

What is the direct cause of tooth loss?

• Gum diseases– the primary cause of tooth loss if the inflammatory disease of the gum. The main symptoms of gum disorders are swollen, bleeding gums followed by recession. In serious cases, even touching the gum might result in bleeding; the gum moves away from the tooth and we lose the tooth as a consequence. If the patient’s condition involves circulatory disorders (as in the case of diabetes and high blood pressure) or autoimmune inflammatory diseases (like rheumatoid arthritis), the probability of gum disease is much higher than in normal cases.
• Dental caries – it is usually the consequence of inadequate oral hygiene . A so called plaque appears on the tooth surface where bacteria can settle down. These bacteria emit acidic materials which damage the structure of the teeth.
• Birth defects – because of genetic disorders related to the teeth, the shape, number and position of the teeth can be unusual.

How can missing tooth be replaced?

We can choose from several options to make our smile perfect. These include complete or partial replacement with dentures and the use of dental implants. To find the appropriate solution, we should turn to a specialist by all means.

Dentures

• Conventional denture fully attached to the gum – A denture that can be attached to the complete lower or complete upper gum can be a solution after losing all of our teeth. For the sake of adequate attachment, it is important to wait for all the changes occurring in the gums and the jaw caused by the absence of our teeth. For this period, a temporal denture is prepared until the regeneration of the gum.
  After healing, our dentist will make the permanent denture based on the mould taken previously. With the help of a flesh-coloured acrylic base, it fits perfectly to the gum and palate (in case of the lower teeth, the acrylic base is U-shaped).
• Partial denture – a partial denture is needed if we still have some of our own teeth. The false teeth of the partial denture are attached to the real teeth via a metal structure called the bridge.
• Full implant denture – if our jaw is in the appropriate condition for it, it is possible to fix the complete denture in a stable way. It is usually done while replacing the lower set of teeth, because the conventional lower denture is attached to the gum in a less stable way. The implemented denture belongs partially to implants and the stable fixture can be achieved with screws drilled into the jaw. The acrylic part which sticks to the gum and to which teeth are attached is fixed to the structure drilled into the jaw in two or more points. The implementation requires serious effort and various operations are needed to fix the final denture. It is more stable than the conventional denture but it is also removable at night.

Wearing a removable denture is an unusual feeling at first and it can cause some inconvenience until our gum gets used to the new device. It can temporarily increase salivation but it will settle down after getting used to the denture.

During acclimatization we should make sure that we don’t eat food that is too hard or sticky. It’s useful to cut the food into smaller portions so the modified chewing movements will not cause a problem. After the implementation, our speech will also change – in order to be able to take part in a conversation in a confident way, we should read out loud for 15 minutes two times a day.

Dental implants

Today, dental implants are the most modern known solutions to replace one or more missing teeth. The implant – similarly to real teeth – is fixed in the gum. The part replacing the root is made of titanium or other noble metals and it is implanted into the jaw bone. After implantation, bone tissue will grow around the implant and it keeps the implanted tooth in place.

The part of the tooth surface (crown) is usually made of ceramics.

Tooth implantation requires careful preparations. Before the implantation, an X-ray is made of the set of teeth. If the dentist deems the gum adequate for the implantation, they will prepare the jaw bone for the implantation at the next session. The intervention is done under local or general (total) anaesthesia. We should inform our dentist about any medication that we regularly take and whether we have drug allergy.

In the 5-7 days after surgery, the gum can be flagrant and sensitive for which our dentist can prescribe analgesics or antibiotics. The pain following the surgery can be compared to the inconveniences we feel after smaller dental interventions. If we pay attention to oral hygiene after the healing time, the pain will not return.

The bone tissue needs approximately 6 weeks to grow around the implant. After the ossification period, the final tooth surfaces are put in place.

The dental implant is very similar to the original teeth and it is comfortable to wear. It will not alter our speech, we can eat any type of food regardless of hardness and it gives us confidence.

How to take care of our denture properly?

Cleaning the removable denture

It’s important to clean the denture after taking it out of our mouth with a cleaning material specifically used for this purpose. The conventional tooth brush and tooth paste can discolour and damage the denture so they should not be used.

At night, we should place the denture in water, it should not be left to dry.

We should clean our gums and tongue with a softly bristled brush and tooth paste. For the sake of more stable fixation, in the case of conventional dentures we can use a special denture-fixing gel recommended by our dentist.

Cleaning the dental implant

The implanted tooth has to be cleaned in a different way than the traditional method. The first priority is cleaning the complete surface of the tooth, especially the parts close to the gum.

We should clean our teeth in the conventional way using a softly bristled tooth brush. Afterwards, we should loop dental floss around the implanted tooth and move it carefully, one end of the loop after the other. After finishing the procedure, we should use special interdental cleaning brush with thin bristles in order to remove plaque effectively.

Not cleaning your false teeth appropriately can lead to serious bacterial infections which can cause gum inflammation.

Take care of your health!

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