For a child below the age of 12, loose teeth are a normal part of life — at least until all 20 baby teeth have fallen out. Once a person has lost their baby teeth, however, loose teeth should no longer be an issue. That's why you should take notice if one of your teeth begins to move in its socket. Your second — and last — set of teeth should never become loose unless something is wrong.
If you ignore a loose tooth, you could add thousands to your dental bill. Has one or more of your teeth become loose? Then here are some good reasons to have a dentist examine the area immediately.
You Could Have Gum Disease
When your teeth are healthy, strong but tiny ligaments that dentists call "periodontal ligaments" hold them in place. These ligaments connect the roots of your teeth to your jawbone, providing cushioning and stability. As such, if a tooth has become loose, an infection could be to blame. Gum disease, which affects 1 in 5 Australian adults, loosens and destroys periodontal ligaments.
If your periodontal ligaments no longer hold your teeth in place, you could end up losing them! Because bacteria is the main cause of gum disease, leaving a loose tooth without treatment is like giving those bacterial organisms permission to do whatever they please. In time, as bacteria multiply under your gum line, the bone, ligaments and gum tissue will break down.
A loose tooth will someday become a lost tooth, leading to very expensive dental treatment.
You Could Have a Gum or Tooth Infection
When a tooth is infected, it fills with pus, which is a collection of dead white cells, bacteria and other biological matter. Normally, however, your body deals with pus by draining it away from a wound or infection. However, because of the confined space in your mouth, pus from an infection sometimes creates a pocket or abscess that sits against your teeth, bone and gum tissue.
This is bad news for your teeth because pus is poisonous and, if not drained, will begin to break down the tissues that it is in contact with, whether gum or bone, and cause the teeth in the area to become loose. What happens if you do nothing? Just as with gum disease, if you fail to see a dentist immediately, you might end up losing the tooth.
Tooth replacement is expensive, not to mention painful and time-consuming. If one of your teeth has become loose, don't wait for it to heal on by itself. Get to a provider of emergency dentistry services before any more damage can occur.
