More than 1/3 of the population of the United States is missing one or more teeth! There are so many dental, medical and even psychological effects associated with missing teeth, that I would like to mention some of the significant points that apply to them:

Dental Consequences

• Difficulty eating - there is an up to 90% reduction in the biting forces necessary to chew food. This results in an inability to chew or bite through foods. Raw fruits and vegetables, steak, chicken, and rolls or bagels can often be a challenge. Most often denture patients are relegated to eating a soft diet or swallowing partly chewed foods.
  
• Denture instability - due to the excessive force transferred to the underlying jawbone, the jawbone begins to atrophy and eventually erodes. This then gives less support to the denture resulting in further instability and resorption.
  
• Jawbone atrophy - over a period of twenty years of denture use, excessive atrophy can occur to such a point where the patient is no longer able to wear dentures.  At this point the patient becomes so dentally handicapped that basic function and appearance has reached maximum compromise.
  
• Dental adhesives - are a messy but necessary means to hold the denture to the gumline.
  
• Esthetic Deficiencies

Medical Consequences

• Shorter life expectancy -Due to a loss of function and diminished sense of taste, full denture patients suffer from a higher rate of systemic disease. This is because they tend to add excessive amounts of salt, sugar and seasonings in order to taste the food they eat. Increased sugar consumption can lead to diabetes and obesity for those patients predisposed to this condition. Increased salt intake has been linked to high blood pressure and an increased risk of strokes and heart attacks.
  
• Additionally, there is evidence of an increased rate of stomach and intestinal disorders due to the patients inability to chew properly, swallowing large pieces of food.

The statistics have shown that full denture wearers have an alarmingly shorter life expectancy - by ten years - than the general public.

Psychological Effects

According to leading psychiatric journals, when people experience embarrassment or self-consciousness while smiling or speaking due to the movement of their dentures, their levels of self-esteem are lowered and they begin to change the way they act or think about themselves.

Oftentimes, they do the following:

• Change the way they smile
  
• Try to hold their lip down when speaking to cover their teeth (this is where the expression "keeping a stiff upper lip" comes from)
  
• Men may grow moustaches
  
• Women tend to wear less make-up in an attempt to not draw attention to their smile

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