28 Feb 2023 Children are meant to lose their temporary teeth with age, but loosening of teeth in adults can be red flag. This occurs when external force is applied on the teeth, or when a tooth begins to lose support and get detached from the gum and the jaw. In situations like this, the slightest touch or movements caused during chewing or talking can cause the tooth to get displaced.
A loose teeth might be followed by other related symptoms like:
Swollen or bleeding gums
Inflamed or red gums
Gum recession
Bad breath
These symptoms often become the alarm system to a much serious underlying disease. Therefore, it’s important to schedule an appointment with your dentist at least twice a year. Your dentists, can then refer you to another doctor if needed, with further delay.
Causes of a loose tooth in adults
A loose or wobbling teeth in an adult doesn’t occur without the application of an external force. If you notice a loosened teeth during brushing or flossing, it’s always advisable to contact your dentist to find out more about it.
In some cases loosening of teeth is known to be the precursor of an underlying gum disease. Diseases like bacterial infection on your gums, tissue or the jaw bones.
Gum disease is most probably caused by poor dental hygiene. If you don’t brush your teeth on a daily basis, or floss it after meals, you are most likely to develop dental health issues. Tartar buildup under your gums is one of the primary results of bad oral health. The good news is, tartar is treatable, but you need to you visit your dentist at regular intervals. If diagnosed early, it’s possible to do away with the infection, stop inflammation and restore normal oral health conditions.
Untreated gum diseases or wobbling teeth can lead to other serious consequences such as bone deterioration. Teeth cannot stand in its place, if not supported by the corresponding bones. Early symptoms of deteriorating gum health include bleeding gums, inflamed gums or red and swollen gums.
Your dentist can look for underlying gum diseases and tartar build up by using a dental probe to examining the pockets of your mouth in detail. The pocket of your mouth is the space between your teeth and gums. The depth ideally should be around 3 millimeters, and larger depth does hint at a gum disease. Dentists might also ask you to get an X- Ray report to check for any loss of bones.
There are others reasons behind a loose tooth in adults. These reasons comprise:
Teeth grinding: clenching or grinding your teeth unconsciously, can eventually lead you to loosening them from their roots. They can also cause other kinds of complications like headaches and facial pain.
Injury: The injury to the mouth or face can also cause you teeth to wobble. This might happen if you fall or meet with an accident. People trying to open bottles caps and seals with their teeth in one of the many instances that can cause a wobbling tooth.
Treatments for a wobbly tooth in adults
The first step to treating a wobbling tooth better is by identifying the reason behind it. If it’s caused by plaque, that can be taken care of by a special cleaning procedure, where the dentist cleans out the hardened plaque accumulated under your gums and pockets. This procedure is commonly known as scaling. The dentist might as well prescribe antibiotics to reduce the infection. Scaling not only removes the plaque and tartar, but also smoothens the surface of the teeth making them whiter. It also smoothens the surface of the root which enables them to reattach the teeth to the gums.
Depending on the severity or seriousness of the gum disease, you might also have to undergo certain surgeries to fix your teeth. The kinds of surgeries comprise:
Bone Grafting: In case of bone deterioration, the dentist will take a fragment of your bone from another part of your body or use a medical grade bone grafting material to repair the problematic parts of the bone to add support to your teeth.
Flap Surgery: it is the procedure of making tiny incisions in your gums to pull back the detached gum tissues. This is done during scaling. This adds back the support from the gum tissue and prevents further loss of tooth.
Bite adjustment: Bite adjustment is the procedure of reshaping your bite surface of the tooth by taking out tiny fragments of the enamel. This procedure reduces the pressure from the tooth giving it the time and space to heal. This method is usually preferred by the dentists when the wobbling is caused by continuous grinding.
Splinting: in case your tooth hasn’t yet detached itself from the root, your dentist might use this procedure to save from further damage. The dentist uses a splinter or a piece of metal to bind two neighboring teeth. This supports the wobbling tooth and saves it from getting detached.
Mouth Guard: the last option doesn’t necessarily include a surgery. You can simply wear a mouth guard to sleep during the nights. This creates a barrier between your jaws, saving them from being damaged during unconscious grinding.
Prevention of loose teeth
A loose will inevitably lead to a detached tooth if not taken care. This can occur because of a gum disease or an unresolved teeth grinding issue. Visiting a dentist at regular intervals and getting it treated can improve your gum, bones and your overall oral health. This also enables the teeth to heal and strengthen in the due process.
In case of a severely wobbly tooth, your dentist might recommend you to get the tooth uprooted and get a dental implant.
There are obviously no ways to detect an unforeseen trauma to the facial region and save the teeth from coming out getting wobbly. It is always recommended to wear strong mouth guards while indulging in sports.
The last bit of advice and most important step to prevent any kind of gum or tooth ailment is to maintain a good dental care routine. Brushing your teeth at least twice a day and flossing it before retiring to you bed. Visiting your dentist at regular intervals and following his instructions also counts. Bring sudden and subtle changes in your teeth or oral conditions to his notice. Changes like bad breath, wobbly tooth, and swollen, bleeding or inflamed gums. If you don’t have a dentist yet, you can check out Smile Craft and take care of your teeth with us.