Which is more important? Back Teeth or Front Teeth?

“My tooth is in the back, you can’t see it right? Let’s just pull it” -Real Conversation

Taking a look at the photo above, what do you see?

There are quite a few missing teeth in the front and back unfortunately. On either side of the remaining front tooth, there are 2 teeth roots, and then completely missing teeth. The lower front teeth are shorter than usual because of severe teeth grinding and wear on them. The top left of the photo (right side of patient) has no matching teeth on the bottom them to chew against.

Two things happened that led to this photo. The story the patient told us was that the first event that happened was their lower back teeth broke down and were no longer fixable. The second event that happened, this patient started chewing more on the front teeth and over time the upper front teeth started to break.

How do we prevent this from happening in the first place?

We keep the back teeth as long as possible by restoring them. If that’s not possible, then replacing them with dentures, bridges, or implants. Restoring the back teeth would have protected the front teeth from this severe wear. Even before teeth break before they are unfixable, there are early signs of wear and tear that don’t hurt – we encourage everyone to get a visual dental check up twice a year, x-rays at least every 2 years as needed.

Where do we start to help this patient with their current situation? We address the two events that happened, 1. Loss of back teeth 2. Broken front teeth. For this patient we need to restore the lower back teeth (to reduce chewing load on front teeth) and replace upper front teeth for their smile.

At Arbo Dental Care Bradford we’re committed to helping patients understand their oral health and emphasizing the importance of all teeth and why they matter.

Caring for you and your smile,
Dr. Pham
Arbo Dental Care Bradford