How Dental Implants Prevent Bone Loss

Maintaining jawbone health is important to the integrity and structure of your mouth. Over time, bone loss creates a sunken appearance in the face from a lack of stability and function.

Dental Implants are a great option when you and your dentist are considering how to prevent bone loss or further deterioration. Even if you’ve experienced severe loss, there are steps you can taker to regain the strength of your jawbone.

Causes of Bone Loss in Jaws

After you lose a tooth, the jawbone and gums begin to weaken. The alveolar bone that supports your teeth will begin to atrophy since there is no tooth root to keep it stable. Dentures don’t support the bone since less chewing pressure is applied when they’re in place, which helps keep the bone strong. The bone will start to reabsorb into the body, leading to a “caved-in” appearance.

Other causes include:

Periodontal disease
Dentures
Trauma
Tumors
Jaw misalignment

Will Dental Implants Stop Bone Loss?

Dental implants will help prevent bone loss because they’re inserted right into the jawbone and function like the previous teeth. They bring back stability to the alveolar bone and can even strengthen it with their titanium structure.

Furthermore, dental implants replace the root and can exert the same amount of chewing pressure as natural teeth, which prevents further bone loss.

A lot of patients wonder if they can still get dental implants if they already have significant jawbone loss. While it depends on your overall oral health, even though you might have extensive bone loss, you do have options. Procedures like bone grafting and sinus lifts can put bone back into the jaw to support dental implants. You’ll have to completely heal from these procedures before placing dental implants, which can take up to six months.

To help prevent or stop bone loss, your Mile High dentist will recommend any of our dental implants. We offer solutions for those missing one tooth as well as for those needing full-mouth restoration.

Contact Us Today to learn more about jawbone loss and how we can help!