Stony Brook Medical Park Dental Group

Patient Education Topics:

Why It Is Important To Replace A Missing Back Tooth
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Overeruption

Back teeth tend to erupt (move father into the mouth) over their lifetime. Only the presence of a tooth to chew against keeps a back tooth from overerupting. The diagram below shows a lower tooth extracted from where lower tooth 6 used to be.

Upper tooth 6 has overerupted because of this. The resulting unevenness among the upper back teeth has created areas between these teeth that trap debris. It is very difficult to keep spaces between uneven teeth clean despite your best efforts at brushing and flossing. Unclean teeth usually cause inflammation of the surrounding gums and also decay more readily.
Tilt and Drift

Back teeth also tend to tilt (lean toward the front of the mouth) over their lifetime. They also have the potential to drift (move) toward the front of the mouth. In the diagram below, a space is left where lower tooth 6 used to be before it was extracted.

This allows lower molar 7 to tilt and drift forward. This tooth will tilt farther and farther over time as you chew on it.
Gum Pocket Formation

A tooth tilted over will develop a gum pocket along its forward root, as shown in the illustration below.

Gum pockets are narrow, abnormal spaces or clefts that develop between the gums and the tooth root. These pockets trap food debris and bacteria. A gum pocket is a problem because you can almost never keep it clean, even with the best brushing and flossing. The debris and bacteria that collect in a pocket lead to ever-worsening inflammation of the gum and bone adjacent to the pocket.
Loss Of Bone Supporting The Tooth

When an area of the gums is constantly inflamed, as you see in this illustration of a gum pocket, the bone immediately adjacent to it can become inflamed, too.

Inflamed bone softens, and slowly begins to disappear. This process of gum pocket formation, gum inflammation, and eventual loss of the bone holding a tooth is called periodontal disease. This disease continues to worsen over time.

Conclusion

Failure to replace a single molar tooth may start a chain of events: overeruption, tilt, drift, gum pockets, decay, and bone loss. Over the years, this chain of events can lead to the loss of all of your teeth. Inserting a false tooth today will avoid grief and greater expense tomorrow.