Can You Get A Flipper Tooth For A Missing Molar?

What Causes Losing Molars?

Tooth loss is among the most common oral problems in dentistry. It affects children and adults alike. Premature tooth loss can lead to various oral complications like improper bites, dental pain, and bone loss, to mention a few. Many factors that cause you to lose your other teeth also result in missing molars. They include:

1. Severe tooth decay
2. Deep tooth fractures
3. Advanced periodontal disease

Technically, when people lose their molars, there is a temptation to skip restorative treatment. The reason is that they are not visible when you smile. However, many complications could arise from failure to seek treatment from a dentist near you after losing your molars.

What Is a Flipper Tooth?

It is a restorative oral appliance offering removable and temporary solutions to tooth loss. It is also known as an acrylic removable partial denture. A flipper tooth is a lightweight partial denture that can replace one or more missing teeth. Usually, oral flippers serve as temporary solutions to allow your gums and jawbone to heal after tooth extraction before getting an actual implant. Therefore, instead of being without teeth until your mouth heals well enough to receive a tooth implant, you can replace the lost tooth with dental flippers.

How Does a Flipper Tooth Work?

Although they are completely different oral appliances, flipper teeth fit like a retainer in orthodontics. A dentist uses clasps to hold the flipper teeth in your mouth. Therefore, a dental adhesive is not necessary as with other dental appliances. Still, flipper teeth are more like traditional partials and full dentures in Jamaica Plain than other oral devices. The only difference is that they offer short-term benefits for tooth replacements.

The tooth can serve you for between 1 and 3 years. Therefore, many dentists near you will refer to it as a long-term temporary option for tooth loss. However, eventually, you must consider a more permanent solution for your tooth loss, whether dental implants or partials and full dentures near you.

When Do You Need a Flipper Tooth?

Some of the benefits of flipper teeth include the following:

1. Preventing the other teeth from shifting – provide stability for your surrounding teeth. Therefore, you will not end up with misaligned teeth after tooth loss.
2. Improved your appearance – by closing gaps in your teeth after tooth loss.
3. Offering temporary teeth replacement methods – can allow you time to consider your options and even save up for your preferred permanent tooth replacement solution.
4. Restored ability to eat and chew more comfortably than with missing teeth
5. Immediate tooth replacement – you can have your dentist construct a flipper tooth before your tooth extraction procedure. This way, you do not have to wait until after you lose your natural tooth and never have to be toothless.
6. Dental flippers are lightweight – they are not like typical partials and full dentures in Jamaica Plain. Instead, flipper teeth feature a lightweight material that optimizes patients’ comfort.
7. They are modifiable. After losing another natural tooth post-flipper-tooth-treatment, we will not need you to replace the entire oral appliance at Pondside Dental Associates. Instead, we can add an extra flipper tooth on the initial ones to cover the missing tooth.
8. They are affordable – dental flippers are the least expensive prosthetic devices for replacing teeth. Expect to spend between $300 and $500 to replace a front tooth. Besides, most dental insurance companies will cover flippers, making them a viable solution for many patients.

Are Flipper Teeth Ideal for Replacing Molars?

Technically, flipper teeth are for temporarily replacing missing front teeth. However, you can still get a flipper tooth for your molars. The only thing will be that it may not function as well as your natural back teeth. In such cases, the flipper tooth is a temporary aesthetic device to keep your smile intact before your permanent tooth replacement treatment. While some patients learn to eat with dental flippers, that is not their primary role. Traditional partials and full dentures near you are more suited for eating than dental flippers.