Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of dental implants is their ability to prevent bone loss. Loss of teeth or missing teeth impacts the health of your jaw bone. The jaw bone beneath the missing tooth is said to slowly undergo recession. Let us understand why jaw bone recession takes place and how dental implants prevent this bone loss.
Reasons why jaw bone recedes
- A missing tooth is a primary reason why a jaw bone recedes.
- The missing tooth has opposite teeth that do not receive any bite pressure. Even in case both the opposite teeth are missing there is virtually no bite pressure. The absence of such pressure does not stimulate the jaw bone area near the missing teeth.
- Stimulation produced as a result of a bite from the opposite tooth when chewing, biting, etc., are required for the jaw bone to be intact. When missing teeth are present, stimulation is absent and this leads to a process called resorption. When the jaw bone begins to resorb leading to jaw bone loss.
How Dental Implants prevent Resorption?
- Dental Implants for all practical reasons behave like natural teeth.
- They are embedded deep into the jaw bone and are fused with the bone by a process called osseointegration.
- Since they are like natural teeth, the natural opposite bite is restored and as a result stimulation to the jaw bone is also restored.
- Though the lost jaw bone could not be restored, the further loss of jaw bone is prevented as a result of getting the dental implants.
Disclaimer
Osteoporosis is another reason why the jaw bone recession and subsequent bone loss can occur. Though the presence of missing teeth can be addressed, the osteoporosis condition requires separate medical treatment. The physicians evaluate bone loss and determine the severity of osteoporosis. More often, the bone loss due to osteoporosis is stopped as soon as a patient begins taking necessary medications.