Learning About The World Of Dentistry

The bones in your body require stimulation to stay healthy and strong, and your jawbone is included in this. Your jaw is a bone that holds your teeth in place and helps your cheeks have support. Without a jawbone, your teeth would have nothing to anchor them in place and your cheeks would sink in, but what gives your jawbone stimulation? The answer to this is your teeth. If you are missing some teeth, your jawbone might start deteriorating, which is one of the reasons your dentist might suggest replacing the missing teeth with dental implants.

Things That Cause A Loss Of Jawbone Mass

The bones in your body can stay strong and healthy for a lifetime if you take good care of yourself; however, there are a number of common things that can lead to a loss of bone mass. One of the most common thing is osteoporosis. This is a condition in which all the bones in the body can begin losing mass, and this can include the jawbone.

In addition, your jawbone can lose mass in other ways. One way is from gum disease. Gum disease not only affects the gums by causing them to recede, but it can also work its way into the bone. If gum disease is treated at an early state, this can be prevented. Your jawbone can also lose mass if you are missing some of your teeth.

How Your Teeth Help Keep Your Jawbone Strong

Every movement you make that causes your teeth to have contact with other teeth is actually signaling your jawbone to rebuild. Throughout the day, there might be thousands of small contacts between your teeth, and these are necessary for a strong, dense jawbone. When a tooth is missing, the bone in the gap will not be rebuilding, because it will not be receiving the signals that this should be happening. In other words, the bone is not being used so there is no reason for it to be rebuilding itself.

Over time, the effects of a missing tooth can be extreme. Little by little, the bone will begin wearing away, and the only way to fix this problem is by having a bone graft procedure completed. This involves adding bone to your existing bone to rebuild the bone that is missing.

Why Dental Implants Are A Good Solution For Preventing Bone Loss

Replacing a missing tooth with an implant requires inserting the implant into your jawbone. To do this, your jawbone must be dense enough to support the implant. If it's not, you cannot get an implant without first going through the bone-grafting process. If there is enough jawbone, a dentist can insert the implant into your existing bone.

The process of getting a dental implant offers so many benefits, but one huge benefit is that it will actually help you stop losing bone mass in your jaw. The implant will act like a normal tooth by stimulating the bone. This will keep the bone rebuilding itself. This means you will not have to worry about your cheeks sinking in, and filling in a gap will stop your other teeth from drifting.

It's also important to realize that filing in a gap like this will also improve the way you look, and it may make it easier for you to chew your food and speak.

Losing mass in your jawbone is something you can prevent with good oral care and a healthy lifestyle. If you already have a missing tooth and want to find out more about replacing it with a dental implant, make an appointment with a dentist like Dale D. Lentz DDS.