When you lose your teeth, you gradually lose the bone that supported them. As this bone disappears, problems with other teeth nearby and a lack of support for dentures, partials and bridges increase. These could include pain, mobility, lack of retention for prosthetics, sharp, painful ridges, mobile gum tissue and sore spots.
The tongue enlarges to accommodate spaces of missing teeth. With tooth loss, a five-fold decrease in function occurs and the diet shifts to softer foods. Also, when bone is lost, numbness to the lower lip or even the possibility of fracture of the jaw rises.
Since the bone is deteriorating, it will spread and deteriorate around healthy teeth and ultimately cause the loss of those teeth smiliar to a domino effect. This progresssion affects the ability to provide the same treatment in the later stages of bone loss than if treatment had been started earlier in the process. It’s much better to replace a tooth BEFORE these side effects occur. A patient risks the possibility of not being able to provide the same, simple type of treatment that would have been possible earlier if treatment is delayed.