Benefits of Saving a Tooth Instead of Removing It

It is true that a “bad” tooth does not need to remain in the mouth. Yet, there are other options for dealing with an infected, decayed, or damaged tooth other than removing it. Whenever possible, a dentist will choose to save natural tooth instead of removing it. There are different alternatives that can benefit your entire mouth that will typically be explored before the recommendation is made to extract a tooth. Root canal therapy, antibiotics, and other avenues are often successful at saving a tooth, and there are benefits to choosing these avenues over tooth extraction.

• Protection of your entire mouth. When a tooth is missing from the mouth, the neighboring teeth will lose their support that keeps them in their proper place. Bone degeneration of the jaw bone occurs when a tooth is missing from its socket. The bone will begin to soften because there is nothing supporting it. When this occurs, the surrounding teeth will begin to shift out of their positions; this can lead to the loss of even more teeth. Therefore, saving a tooth helps to protect the entire mouth from a significant domino effect.
• Proper function. Having all of the teeth inside the mouth greatly affects how well you speak, chew, laugh, and even cough. Missing teeth alters the alignment of the teeth, and this change affects all functions that are naturally performed by the mouth. People often compensate for their missing teeth, especially when chewing, and this over-compensation can cause further damage to occur to your mouth and jaw.
• Maintain your natural appearance. When possible, saving the natural teeth is always an ideal option in order to help people save their natural smiles. A missing tooth or multiple missing teeth will cause a negative impact on your appearance – which can lead to poor self-esteem, lack of confidence, and have a negative impact on how others view you. By saving your natural tooth instead of removing it, you can keep your natural smile.
• Less down time. A tooth extraction is considered to be a surgical procedure. While a single tooth removal is relatively simple, multiple teeth extractions are major procedures. As with any type of surgical procedure, there will be down time associated with the removal of a tooth or teeth. Saving a tooth via root canal therapy will require much less work done on the tooth and much less down time.

At Family & Cosmetic Dental Care, we are committed to your oral health. Call today.

Posted by Mitul Patel DDS, Family & Cosmetic Dental Care
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