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Missing many teeth

Many teeth can be missing, either in the front or back of the mouth.

The loss of many posterior teeth affects chewing and requires early treatment as it can completely disorganise the relationships between the teeth.

The loss of anterior teeth, which is common in patients with periodontal disease or old bridges, causes major aesthetic problems.

If the lost posterior teeth are not replaced, the teeth on the opposite side of the arch and the neighbouring teeth start to move into the empty space.

Chewing is transferred to the anterior teeth, which cannot withstand the chewing forces, so they move or wear out.

An important consequence is the loss of the bone that supports the teeth.

Once a tooth is lost, bone resorption begins. The longer we wait to replace the lost tooth, the more bone is lost, making it difficult or impossible to place implants later.

Alternatives:

If there are other teeth in good condition around the lost tooth, they can be prepared and used as abutments for a fixed bridge.

If there are no end teeth to support the bridge, or if they are unsuitable, the only alternative to replacing the lost teeth is a partial denture. This is a mobile prosthesis that fills in the missing teeth and must be removed and cleaned after each meal.

The dental implant solution has an advantage over the alternatives because it:

  • provides excellent chewing ability
  • provides a fixed prosthesis
  • does not affect taste
  • does not damage natural teeth and maintains their good prognosis
  • implants keep the jawbone stable.
BEFORE and AFTER

See cases of many missing teeth treated with dental implants in our clinic.

Click the arrow on the right to see more photos of each case.
After

We used dental implants to fill in the missing teeth and built a fixed bridge over them.

Before

Our patient had a bridge in the posterior area of his mouth which was lost along with the supporting teeth.

There was a tooth in the back of the mouth, but so many teeth were missing that a new bridge supported by that tooth would not have a good prognosis.

After

The patient’s smile with the temporary prosthesis in the mouth.

This is a restoration supported by the neighbouring teeth with hooks made of thermoplastic material.

Before

Missing many teeth in the back of the mouth is not only a functional problem but also an aesthetic one, as this area is involved in speech and smiling.

Here we see the temporary mobile prosthesis used by the patient during the period of osseointegration of the implants.

After

This is the bridge that is screwed onto the dental implants.

The holes in the photo allow the bridge to be screwed into place.

They will then be covered with sealant.

Before

It takes 3 implants to replace the 4 missing teeth.

The implants are placed and we wait 4-6 months for the osseointegration to be complete.

The new bridge is then made.

After

Pink porcelain was placed on the implant-supported bridge to make the teeth appear correct in length, although this area was not of particular aesthetic interest to our patien

Before

The loss of teeth resulted in the loss of bone from the area.

This is why the implants appear “”taller”” than the teeth.

Missing posterior teeth and treatment with dental implants
After

The same patient’s smile after the construction of a metal-ceramic bridge supported by 5 implants.

The restoration was fixed on dental implants.

It improved the aesthetics of the smile and the chewing function, significantly upgrading the patient’s quality of life.

Ακίνητη γέφυρα άνω γνάθου στηριγμένη σε οδοντικά εμφυτεύματα / DentArtistry
Before

The patient in the photo had lost many teeth in the upper jaw.

She was using a partial denture supported by remaining natural teeth that had been left on the back side of the jaw.

Ακίνητη γέφυρα άνω γνάθου στηριγμένη σε οδοντικά εμφυτεύματα / DentArtistry
After

The fixed bridge on dental implants immediately after cementation.

If you place dental implants soon after losing your natural teeth, then the jawbone is preserved and no artificial gums are needed in the prosthetic work we fabricate.

Before

The partial denture used by the patient before and during the treatment with dental implants.

It is mobile prosthesis that covers part of the palate and affects the taste.

After

Occlusal view of the fixed implant bridge.

Before

The metal-ceramic bridge is supported by 5 implants and fills in 10 missing teeth.

Careful planning is needed to ensure that the implants are placed in the right position so that the resulting restoration looks natural.

Missing many anterior teeth and treatment with dental implants
After

The missing teeth were replaced with a fixed bridge supported by 2 implants.

If you have lost your gums as well as your teeth, we can use pink porcelain to replace the gum on the bridge.

Before

S., a young patient in the practice, had lost many teeth from periodontitis.

The 4 anterior teeth in the maxilla were missing and she was using a mobile prosthesis to fill them in.

Missing anterior teeth in a periodontal patient and treatment with dental implants
Questions
  1. Do I have to replace every missing tooth with a dental implant?

    If two neighbouring teeth are missing in the posterior area of the mouth, the gap must be filled with 2 implants.

    In the front of the mouth, an implant can also support a cantilevered tooth.

    If more teeth are missing, the number of implants needed, depends on the amount of bone available and is usually less than the number of teeth missing.

  2. Can I have a natural tooth connected to a dental implant?

    Teeth and implants behave differently in the mouth.

    We avoid connecting natural teeth to dental implants because the difference in their mobility causes problems for the teeth and complications in prosthetic work.

  3. How many implants do I need to replace the missing teeth?

    The number of implants depends on the number of missing teeth and the amount of bone available.

    The number of teeth in the other jaw is also an important factor.

    The exact number of implants needed in your case will be determined after a thorough planning of your treatment.

     

Videos
See more videos on the clinic's YouTube channel @DentArtistry
Learn what to do, when you are missing many teeth
How many implants do you need to replace posterior missing teeth