110 Can a Loose Tooth Fix Itself

Can a Loose Tooth Fix Itself?
When you have a loose baby tooth, you know that an adult tooth is ready to replace it so it is exciting to have that experience. When your adult tooth becomes loose, you do not have another tooth that will grow in its place. It is not exciting; it is upsetting. It’s time to make a dental appointment right away.

Your adult teeth will move slightly due to the fact that dental ligaments are pliable muscle tissue and they are not fixed bone tissue. The jaw bone helps secure the bony tooth root, but the dental ligaments help secure the tooth in the gums. The ligaments wrap around your teeth below the gum line and create a tight grip on the tooth. When the tooth is anything more than a slight wiggle or it is moving more than it has in the past, its time to make a dental appointment to address the problem.

Without professional dental treatment, your loose tooth will not get better. It will not go away. It will not improve on its own without addressing the reason the tooth is loose in the first place. The dentist will be able to review your symptoms, your teeth, gums, X-rays, and other oral health indicators to determine the best course of action to treat your underlying problem and the pain you are probably experiencing from your loose tooth.

A loose tooth can get better with the proper treatment plan as determined by a dentist. For example, if your tooth is loose as a result of gum disease, the dentist can perform a scaling and root planing procedure to remove the plaque and bacteria that is the root cause of the gum disease. The dentist may also suggest using an antiseptic or an antibacterial mouthwash to help prevent and slow the progression of future gum disease. Depending on the seriousness of your gum disease, the dentist may even prescribe an antibiotic to help treat the infection in your gums.

The dentist may need to turn to surgery to help treat your loose tooth. The dentist can use flap surgeries, bone grafts, soft tissue grafts, and splinting to help your body secure the tooth in its place. Flap surgery is used in combination with scaling and root planing. Bone grafts and soft tissue grafts are a way to add tissue to the body in specific areas that can help support a tooth where tissue loss is leaving it loose. In cases where your tooth is loose as a result of an accident, the dentist can use a splinting technique to attach multiple teeth together so the pressure from biting and chewing is spread evenly across all the teeth instead of a single one.

If you struggle with bruxism or your teeth are causing you to have an uneven bite, the dentist can help take pressure off your teeth. The dentist may suggest a night mouth guard to prevent you from grinding and clenching in your sleep. The dentist can also perform a bite adjustment by reshaping your teeth so they meet together in a more even way.