Permanent Tooth Feels Loose
When we lose our baby teeth and grow our adult teeth, we expect these teeth to be there for life. It is much more common than many people realize for adult teeth to become loose. While adult teeth do not normally fall out all on their own like baby teeth do, many reasons can cause them to become loose.
The causes of loosening in permanent teeth vary but if you act quickly you can save your teeth before they fall out or affect the other teeth in your mouth. The first step you should take is to contact a dental professional. Your dentist will likely take x-rays and conduct a dental examination to determine the extent of the problem. This assessment will help them and you to decide how you treat your loose permanent tooth.
What Causes a Loose Permanent Tooth?
The most common causes of loose teeth are gum disease, trauma, and the stresses exacerbated by bruxism.
Bruxism is the medical term for grinding your teeth. There are many reasons for grinding. During waking hours, stress, anxiety, and bad habits can lead to grinding your teeth. It is extremely common in most adults to grind your teeth during sleep. Constant grinding and clenching can weaken the ligaments that attach the teeth to the bone, causing teeth to become loose. Bruxism is often an involuntary action and may be difficult to stop. Your dentist can custom make a night guard to reduce the damage done while grinding your teeth in your sleep.
Trauma is one of the most common causes of loose permanent teeth. Accidental impacts to the mouth and face can cause injury to the bone and tissues surrounding and supporting the teeth, causing teeth to become loose. Physical therapy can help the ligaments heal and stabilizing treatments can help save the tooth.
Gum disease is one of the most serious causes of loose permanent teeth. When the bacteria that form plaque and tartar invade the gum line, serious damage can be incurred. Gum tissue deteriorates and in severe cases the bone can also become infected. When the decay becomes serious enough, the teeth can be loosened. Professional cleaning and scaling must be performed before stabilizing treatments can begin.
Stabilizing Treatments
One method dentists use to stabilize a loose tooth is splinting. This procedure involves attaching loose teeth to their more stable neighbors using a composite resin and wire. This attachment is usually temporary and can be easily removed when the ligaments holding the tooth in place or the tissues surrounding the tooth have properly healed. In certain cases, a custom made plastic splint can be inserted to hold the affected tooth or teeth in place.
If your tooth cannot be saved, your dentist will be able to extract it and replace it with an implant or bridge. Modern knowledge and technology have vastly improved dentists’ ability to save teeth, as long as treatment is not delayed. It is extremely important to consult a dental professional as soon as loose teeth are discovered, as time is a critical factor in saving your loose teeth.