Why Do Your Teeth Fall Out?

When a child loses her baby teeth, you give it to the tooth fairy and get some cash in return. When you're an adult, you neither get new teeth nor does the tooth fairy drop in. Losing a tooth is annoying. It puts you through quite a bit of pain and your gums are exposed. If you've lost your tooth, you will be wondering, "Why has it fallen off?"

At times, a tooth falls out of the blue with no warning or any apparent reason. It can be baffling! Additionally, if you hope to take care of your teeth and prevent any further tooth fall, it is imperative that you understand why.

Tooth Decay

The number one cause of a fallen tooth is tooth decay. Tooth decay is caused by cavities. Any tooth has a hard outer shell called enamel and an inner soft layer, dentin. A cavity basically creates a hole through the enamel layer, first and then, the dentin.

A cavity occurs because food particles and sugar remains settle in the mouth. They react with bacteria and produce acid. This acid is responsible for the tooth decay. If not taken care of, your tooth will erode, fall off and the decay will reach your gum nerves. This will cause terrible pain.

Tooth Grinding

Ever noticed how you grind your teeth when you're nervous. Tooth grinding is bad when you suffer from bruxism. Bruxism leads you to constantly grind your teeth, especially while you sleep. Tooth grinding causes your tooth's crown to erode and your gum muscles to weaken. As your gum muscles weaken and your tooth slowly grows smaller, it will fall out.

Gum Disease

Another common reason for tooth fall is gum disease. Gingivitis and periodontitis are the two common forms of gum disease. Gingivitis causes a little bit of swelling and bleeding in your gums and hardly causes any pain. Hence, it's barely noticeable. Periodontitis causes serious swelling in your gums that destroy the muscles and bone structure in your jaws. This results in your teeth falling off.

Tooth Injury

It is possible that when you slipped or tripped and fell down, your tooth cracked, loosened and came off.

What can you do?

- Take care of your teeth

The best way to prevent tooth decays and gum diseases is it to take care of your teeth. Brush your teeth twice a day, drink water frequently to keep your mouth fresh and floss to remove any food particles that are stuck in your mouth.

- Wear a Mouth Guard

If you are playing any rough sport, wear a mouth guard to prevent tooth injury.

- Visit the Dentist Regularly

Meeting your dentist is all about preventing or catching the problem before it becomes serious. All of these problems (except tooth injury) can be caught early on by visiting the dentist, so you don't lose your tooth. If you do lose your tooth through an injury, visit the dentist ASAP, he may be able to put it back on.

Once you lose a tooth in your adult years, it is gone. So, take care of all of them well!

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