How Implants Prevent Bone Loss

Clackamas County, OR

Tooth loss is not like any minor oral health issue or inconvenience. Losing teeth can have serious long-term effects on the surrounding tissues as well as the jawbone. For example, just within the first year after you lose a tooth or get it extracted, your bone may lose up to 25% of its volume because it has nothing to support. But why does bone loss occur, and how can dental implants from ComfortCare Dental help you solve this problem? 

How Does Tooth Loss Cause Bone Loss?

To preserve its original volume and shape, our jawbone needs some sort of stimulation. Naturally, our teeth provide this stimulation through biting and chewing actions. In addition, because our teeth move regularly, they encourage the jawbone to grow and rebuild. 

If you lose teeth, the jawbone stops receiving stimulation. This causes it to lose height, width, and density. As a result, it gets weaker and can change your face’s structure, specifically if many teeth are missing.

Why You Need to Take Care of Bone Loss Immediately

Extensive tooth loss and the reabsorption process of the bone that follows can lead to severe consequences, including aesthetic consequences. As the bone shrinks, you will notice that the lower part of your face starts to look sunken. Your youthful and natural appearance can get ruined. 

While dentures are a viable tooth replacement option designed to work with your bone structure, they can become loose and no longer function effectively if your bone structure weakens. Dental implants, however, are fixated in the tooth root’s place and do not become loose. 

How Do Dental Implants Prevent Bone Loss?

Dental implants are small posts, usually made from titanium. An oral surgeon places them inside the jawbone, in place of the old tooth roots. They easily attach to all kinds of dental restorations, including dental crowns.

For dental implants to be successful, you need to allow osseointegration – a process where the jawbone grows around the implant. Since the implant acts as a root, the jawbone receives stimulation once again and responds by renewing itself.

Old-fashioned tooth replacement treatments such as dentures and bridges do not prevent bone loss since they do not prevent the reabsorption in the jaw. In fact, they add pressure on the bone and can even speed up bone loss. This is why many oral surgeons recommend that their patients choose dental implants over traditional restorative methods.  

A dental implant is different from other tooth loss replacement treatments because it mimics the complete structure of a tooth, including the natural tooth root and the crown. After your oral surgeon places the implant into your jawbone, the implant starts functioning as a tooth root. It stimulates the surrounding tissue and helps it stay thick and strong.

If you recently had your tooth extracted, now is the time to talk to us about dental implants. We can start planning your implant procedure right away, so you experience as little bone loss as possible. Call us today to schedule an appointment today.