Molars are one of the teeth that play an important role in the jaw. If you are unfortunate enough to lose a molar, you should find a way to fix it as soon as possible to avoid negative effects on your oral health.
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1. What kind of teeth are molars?
Molars, also known as large molars or large molars, are located between teeth number 6 and number 7 on the jaw.
Molars appear when people are about 6-8 years old, after the baby teeth fall out. And they only grow once, if lost, they cannot be replaced by other teeth.
Molars play a key role in crushing food before it enters the stomach. Moreover, this type of tooth is also closely related to the nervous system, so it needs to be carefully cared for to avoid damage. Because removing molars must be done very carefully, it greatly affects health.
Losing molars not only affects aesthetics and chewing ability, but in the long term also causes many dangerous diseases.
Therefore, when having problems with teeth and having to remove molars, patients should find a way to fix it early to avoid negative effects on overall health.
2. Does losing molars affect health?
Molars grow at a young age, so if you do not take proper care of your teeth, you are at risk of tooth decay, and the worst is tooth loss. Losing molars can cause many serious consequences such as:
- Impaired and dysfunctional mastication
Because molars play a key role in chewing, when one of the two sides is lost, the chewing power of the teeth is reduced. This means that people who have lost one molar have to put chewing force on the remaining tooth, causing the molar in that position to wear out faster.
If molars on both sides are lost, the patient is forced to change the chewing position to the other teeth, causing chewing dysfunction.
- Effects on the digestive system
When the ability to chew is reduced, food that is not crushed properly will put pressure on the stomach, causing the stomach to secrete more fluid and work harder. In the long term, it causes some digestive diseases such as gastritis, stomach pain, digestive disorders, etc.
- Premature aging
Long-term loss of molars will cause the jawbone area at the position of teeth number 6 and 7 to gradually disappear. The reason is that the chewing force in that area is no longer there to stimulate the natural growth of the jawbone. At that time, the bone edge supporting the gums will collapse, leading to gum recession. At this time, the cheeks will begin to sink and the facial muscles will sag, causing premature aging, making the face look older than its actual age.
- Causes misaligned bite and jaw
When a tooth is lost, a gap will appear in the jaw. At this time, the other teeth around will tend to shift and tilt into that gap. At the same time, the molars in the opposite jaw will also protrude down, causing damage to the gum area at the tooth loss site. Teeth moving out of their original position will cause misaligned bite and jaw.
- Causes loss of aesthetics, lack of confidence in communication
Molars are located inside, so most people think that losing molars will not affect facial aesthetics. However, this is completely opposite, losing molars still affects the face. Because when the teeth move into the missing position, causing misalignment of the bite and jaw, it can cause the face to be misaligned, losing its original naturalness, causing a loss of confidence in communication.
3. The best method to fix missing molars today
Molars play a very important role, so when a tooth is lost, the patient needs to fix it immediately to ensure the safety of both oral and overall health. Below are some common solutions for restoring lost teeth today:
- Dental bridge
Porcelain bridge is an effective method to overcome tooth loss, restore facial aesthetics as well as ensure chewing function.
A porcelain bridge is made by grinding down the 2 teeth adjacent to the missing tooth and then using a series of porcelain bridges consisting of many crowns placed on top of the bridge abutment, with the porcelain tooth in the middle used to fill the gap of the missing tooth.
The condition for performing a porcelain bridge is that the two teeth next to the missing tooth must be healthy and free of oral diseases. Therefore, this solution can only be applied in the case of missing 1 molar number 6. If the molar number 7 or both teeth 6 and 7 are missing, a porcelain bridge cannot be performed, because not everyone has enough wisdom teeth and not all wisdom teeth grow properly to serve as bridge pillars.
Although porcelain bridges restore aesthetics and chewing function, their lifespan is not high, only about 7-10 years, because they only fix the upper part and do not solve the problem of jawbone loss due to the lack of tooth roots. At this time, the surrounding alveolar bone will gradually fall into the gap where the tooth is missing, causing the jawbone structure to change and the bite to become misaligned.
- Dental Implant
Dental Implant is the optimal solution for restoring lost teeth, recommended by many medical experts today. After Implant treatment, patients will have a complete molar that is almost like a real tooth with a full crown and root.
Dental Implants are specially constructed with 3 parts: Titanium pillar, Abutment joint and porcelain crown. In which, the Titanium pillar is inserted directly into the jaw bone, after integrating a porcelain crown with color, shape and hardness as good as a real tooth will be placed on top through the Abutment joint. After implant placement, the teeth are both aesthetically restored and ensure chewing function.
With Implant, even if you are missing molars number 6, 7 or both teeth, it can be done. Because this is a completely independent dental implant solution, it does not affect other teeth. It helps to preserve real teeth to the maximum and the durability of the teeth will last up to 20 years or forever if done properly and well cared for.
Hopefully, the information shared above has helped you find the answer to the question “What to do if you lose a molar?”. If you have any questions about your dental condition, you can contact Westway Dental Clinic so that our team of experts can provide detailed and dedicated guidance.
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