15/05/2023
How Tooth Loss Affects Your Jaw Bone
When you lose a tooth, you must have it replaced. This is because tooth loss can lead to many problems, such as shifting teeth, facial structure changes, and ever-dreaded bone loss. Deterioration of the jaw bone can occur within just 6 weeks of losing a tooth.
Symptoms that you might be experiencing due to jaw bone loss:
▪️ Adjustment in your facial structure or bite
▪️ Distortion of facial features
▪️ Pain when chewing
▪️ Wrinkles begin to form around your mouth
▪️ Shifting of your teeth
▪️ Headaches, facial pain, and jaw pain
▪️ Limited lip support
▪️ Difficulty speaking
Dental implants preserve the existing jaw bone and prevent additional bone loss, but how do they work? A titanium post is implanted into the jaw bone and over 3-6 months, the bone will grow around the implant and fuse together, through a process called osseointegration.
This not only ensures that your tooth restoration is secure and acts just like a real tooth, but it also restores the function of the tooth’s root and provides stimulation to the jaw bone when you chew, resulting in the regeneration of cells needed to preserve bone density. Because of this, bone resorption never occurs.
