Why Do Teeth Shift Over Time? Causes and Solutions
(Part 3)
Why Teeth Shift After the Removal or Loss of a Tooth
Simply put, once a permanent or adult tooth is removed or lost, the other teeth suddenly have room to move (as opposed to someone with a complete set of teeth).
The teeth and their stretchable ligaments supporting fibrous gomphosis will naturally attempt to fill up the now-empty space. The results could range from harmless to disastrous overtime.
- Losing Milk Teeth vs. Permanent Teeth: If it’s a permanent tooth, it’s particularly notable because there’s no new tooth to erupt and replace it (as opposed to the milk teeth of children who’d have them replaced soon after).
- Wisdom Tooth Removal: Wisdom tooth removal, even though it’s a permanent type of tooth, might not cause major shifting problems because modern humans have “evolved” to not even need these “extraneous” teeth.
Quite a lot of patients get along fine after having their wisdom teeth or other rear molars removed. The tooth shifting in these cases, if any, is minimal.
- The Loss of Canine or Incisor Teeth: There’s a greater risk of malocclusions, misalignment, aesthetically displeasing gaps, and teeth crowding when you lose an incisor or canine tooth.
In such instances, the teeth on either side may shift toward each other or in the new space left from extraction. The rule of thumb is that molar removal is okay and front teeth removal is not so good.
The best method of avoiding teeth shifting after losing teeth is to replace them with dental implants or a bridge that literally bridges the gap made by missing teeth.