How harmful is it to eat with one tooth

summary

Some time ago, I heard a friend say that he often eats with only one side of his teeth. Is it harmful to his teeth? Please see the following explanation from the dentist

How harmful is it to eat with one tooth

First, habitual teeth will "double" wear - although the teeth are very hard, they chew food many times a day. Over time, even the strongest surface will be worn. Under normal circumstances, the loss of teeth is relatively uniform and symmetrical, teeth will continue to become shorter and thinner. These losses occur not only on the side where the teeth are in direct contact with food, but also on the side where the teeth are adjacent to the teeth. However, due to the subtle and uniform changes, no serious consequences will be caused. However, for people who are used to using one side of the tooth, it is not so optimistic. The side that they are used to will wear twice as much as the other side, and become shorter and thinner. Excessive loss of teeth will lead to a significant decline in chewing function, the original chewing five can swallow food, may have to chew ten. In addition, the tooth may "move disorderly", because the tooth on the habitual side becomes "thin tooth", which will be squeezed by the "fat tooth" on the unused side, and eventually the whole tooth will be tilted to the habitual side.

Second: to become a "big face" or "small face" - if you eat with only one tooth, the muscles that drive the teeth to chew will get more "exercise" than the other. Therefore, the habitual side of the face will be "stronger" than the other side, and the result is that it looks "bigger on one side and smaller on the other". Just like many athletes' right hand is stronger and stronger than their left hand, "big and small face" will not have a substantial impact on their health, but no one will like such "passive fullness"

Third: teeth are very injured - the teeth and gums on the unused side seldom rub with food and are more likely to produce dental calculus, which will increase the risk of tooth decay, gingivitis and periodontitis.

matters needing attention

Temporomandibular joint is very injured - "temporomandibular joint" is responsible for opening and closing the mouth, talking, eating, yawning As long as you open your mouth, you will use this joint. The temporomandibular joint is located in front of both ears. You can put your fingers in front of your ears, open your mouth and close your mouth, and you can feel it. Chewing with one tooth for a long time will damage the temporomandibular joint on one side, and the final result may be "click" when opening the mouth, joint pain, or even not opening the mouth at all.