Jawbone loss can stem from many causes. While the most common reasons are tooth loss and gum disease, many other dental issues can result in tissue loss in your jaw area. For example, smoking can affect bone density in all areas of the body, including the jaw.
Causes Of Bone Loss
Bone loss is a very known consequence of loss of teeth and chronic periodontitis as well. In periodontitis, the bacteria gradually eat away at the underlying jawbone area and at the periodontal ligaments that connect the tooth to your bone. The most common reason for bone loss is tooth loss left unattended, especially multiple teeth. Jawbone is well preserved through the pressure and stimulus of chewing. When eliminated through tooth loss, the bone “resorbs” (reabsorbs) into your body. In the first year after your tooth extraction, 25% of bone is lost, and this bone loss continues.
This bone loss is seen in the bone surrounding and supporting the tooth, called the alveolar bone. This bone forms the ridges in which the teeth are fixed. These edges atrophy both vertically and also horizontally. Restoring teeth with full or partial dentures doesn’t address the problem as the dentures exert a minimal amount of chewing pressure on the bone compared to your natural teeth, as low as ten percent or less. Elimination of the molars in the upper jaw can cause additional bone resorption due to the increase of the sinus cavity. With zero teeth in place, the air pressure in the sinus cavity can lead to bone resorption lining the sinuses.
Other Reasons For Bone Loss
- Bone loss can also be stimulated by misaligned teeth, developing a situation where normal chewing hardly occurs, causing loss of the required stimulus to the bone.
- Bone can be lost through an infection that affects your bone.
- A large tumor in the face may need the removal of the tumor and some of the jaw as well.
- Dentures can also accelerate bone loss by wearing away at the ridges of bone they are fixed on. Every time you bite or clench your teeth, you are putting pressure on the rise, resulting in bone resorption. This is the primary cause of continual problems in getting dentures to fit, sore spots, and toughness or pain during chewing.
- People who wear dentures may also experience another unembellished consequence of bone loss: the collapse of the lower third of their face.
When bones lose density, it becomes leakier. Bone can lose density because of various factors, including diet, hormonal imbalance, disease, lifestyle, and even tooth loss.
We can detect low-density bone ahead of time using our 3D cone beam CT scanner to click 3D images. The whiter the texture of the bone in the X-ray, the denser it is in reality. We can then avoid these zones of low density or take needed precautions by using unique dental implants with a surface that draws the bone to it, creating denser bone around the implant.
How To Prevent Bone Loss?
Bone loss can be prevented by providing the jawbone a replacement tooth with a root that can apply the same pressure as your natural teeth. This is done immediately after the extraction by replacing single teeth with dental implants or by using a fixed implant-assisted bridge or denture.
A single-tooth dental implant or a dental bridge with 3-4 teeth assisted by two implants offer a chewing power of 99% of your natural bite force. A denture protected with dental implants, such as our Same Day Teeth procedure, provides about 70% to 80% of the normal biting force and helps prevent bone loss.
Bone Loss Treatment
The ridge bone loss starts your chin closer to the nose, causing your jaw to jut out, and your nose seems to stick out further as your upper lip has puckered in. Deep wrinkles are visible around the mouth, and the cheeks develop jowls or sagging skin. This facial collapse can occur to age you for many years!
Some ways to deal with bone loss are:
In cases where the bone has already been lost, bone grafting might be required to offer enough bone for dental implant placement. We want enough height of the ridge for any teeth replacement with dental implants, and when replacing the back teeth (molars), enough width is needed here. We also use bone grafting to restore damaged and lost bone around teeth that have suffered from critical gum disease.
A bone graft not only changes lost bone; it also enhances the jawbone to regrow and eventually restores the bone graft with the patient’s own, healthy bone. We use various types of bone graft material that depends on the patient, including new cutting-edge materials which needless curing time.
- Minimally Invasive
Our doctors will let you know the benefits of minimally invasive dental implants and how they can protect you from bone loss. Dr. Ali often places the bone graft simultaneously as the implant unless the bone loss is critical, in which case it might require to be done as a separate procedure. They use minimally invasive procedures, including a gentle laser too.
- Sinus Lift
When your upper back teeth have been eliminated, the ridge bone resorbs, and the sinus cavity enlarges so that eventually, the bone separating the sinus cavity and the oral cavity will be very thin. Dental implants can’t be placed in such thin bone, and in these cases, Dr. Ali will do a sinus lift. Once the bone graft material has wholly integrated with the jawbone, we can fix your implants.
The 3D cone beam CT scanner is a crucial tool for the evaluation of bone density in the jaw and neighboring bone structures. The good thing is that we can assist many patients in getting their implants done without any bone grafting by using our 3D cone beam CT scanner. This breakthrough technology helps us to see the teeth, jaw, and related structures in a full 360º view. We can measure your ridges’ exact width and height and assess how much, if any, bone grafting is needed. In many cases, we can also find enough bone to use for implants. Implants Pro Center© is always here for a consultation at your convenience. You can know more about dental implants and our treatment approaches by booking an appointment with us.
At Implants Pro Center©, we receive all the primary dental and medical PPO insurances and also Medicare, thereby reducing your anxiety about the expense of various dental implant treatments. We have a much experienced and caring team for your life-long care, maintenance, and dental assistance. Implants Pro Center© is also furnished with modern technologies like CT-Scan, Intravenous Sedation, Platelet Rich Fibrin, etc. to provide you nothing less than the best services ever!