Consequences of Tooth Loss

[drsushant]

The loss of many teeth or all of them, leads to the following:

Ridge resorption

prominent mylohyoid ridge
prominent genial tubercles
exposure of Mental Nerve

Reduction in Height of the Lower Facial Third

Pseudo-prognathism

Exacerbation of the naso-labial folds

Angular cheilitis / stomatitis

‘Knife’ ridges

Atrophic mandible

Need to re-contour dento-alveoli (alveoplasty)

Reduced Function – speech, eating, cosmeses

“Flabby Ridge” (pre-maxilla)

Bony irregularities & prominences

Loss of masticatory function & appearance during healing
stage

Undesirable mental & physical effects on patient that the
absence of teeth creates

Tongue and cheeks may invade the future “denture space”
making later adaptation to subsequent dentures more
difficult

Difficulty in assessing vertical & horizontal jaw relations
when construction new dentures

Difficulty in restoring appearance if all information on the
natural dentition has been lost

Multiple adjustments to immediate dentures as the jaw
bones / dento-alveoli re-model.

        

[drmithila]

Also Failure to replace a missing posterior tooth is assumed to disrupt the balance of the stomatognathic system and trigger a host of adverse consequences.1 These consequences—which include extrusion of opposing teeth, tilting of adjacent teeth and disturbances in the health of the supporting structures—also are thought to hasten the loss of remaining teeth. Extrusion of an unopposed tooth into the edentulous space may disrupt occlusion and complicate replacement of the missing tooth. Tilting or “collapse” of the teeth adjacent to the edentulous space may lead to periodontal problems or heightened risk of caries development. It also may complicate restoration of the space; it could prompt the need for orthodontic uprighting or necessitate increased reduction of abutment teeth with corresponding negative effects on pulpal health and prosthesis retention, if a fixed partial denture were placed.

        

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