SO WHAT’S the big deal in losing a back tooth? Nobody can see it, right? With so much emphasis on body image these days, there’s one fundamental fact that has almost been buried – that the human body has been designed purely for function.
The body is amazingly well designed. For instance, every bump and flat surface on each tooth is there for a reason. The bumps on teeth are called cusps. The top teeth cusps fit into the bottom teeth cusps just like a jigsaw so that the forces of chewing are spread evenly across all the teeth to create balance and harmony. The eye teeth have long roots because they are at the corner of your mouth and take all the force when you move your bottom jaw to the left or right.
As for the back teeth, they are large because they do all the heavy chewing and crunching which requires them to take a lot of force. Moreover the front teeth are slim to allow you to tear food apart before it is moved backwards to be mashed up by the large molar teeth.
Together all the teeth, jaw joints and jaws are connected and moved by a intricate system of muscles, nerves and ligaments. When everything is functioning correctly the entire system is like an efficient balanced machine.
The top teeth are held in place by the lower teeth and each adjacent tooth stops its neighbour from moving out of position. This means that if, for example, a top back tooth is removed, the opposite lower tooth will literally keep on “growing” up out of position because there’s nothing to stop it.
Also the adjacent teeth to the space start drifting into the space and tip over. This can not only lead to spaces opening up in your front teeth but now the 'jigsaw' fit of the teeth is lost, which can trigger bite problems and pain.
If many back teeth are lost, there are less remaining teeth to do the work. This can lead to teeth breaking, fillings coming out or front teeth being forced forward so that they start looking prominent. So to avoid problems, if at all possible, it’s a good idea to replace a back tooth shortly after it has been removed with a bridge, implant or denture.
