Losing a tooth does more than just change your smile. It can start a series of changes that gradually change how you look over time. Many people don’t know that missing teeth can cause the jawbone to shrink, which can change your face shape and make you look older than you are. Understanding this helps you choose the best way to replace missing teeth.
The immediate effects of losing a tooth can be surprising.
Your teeth do more than just help you chew. Each tooth sends signals to your jawbone throughout the day, telling your body to keep the bone strong in that area.
When a tooth is lost, those signals stop.
Your body thinks the bone is no longer needed and starts pulling nutrients away from that area. These changes affect more than just your mouth.
The body stops getting important signals from the missing tooth.
This causes the bone to start losing nutrients right away. The nearby teeth can start moving into the empty space, which can change how your teeth fit together.
The tooth across from the gap can also start growing longer because it has nothing to push against when you chew.
This can change how your upper and lower teeth fit, affecting your bite.
Many people think they can wait to fix their missing teeth.
But the damage can happen quickly. If you’re looking for a dentist near me, acting early makes a big difference.
Bone loss in the jaw happens slowly at first.
You might not feel any pain or notice changes right away. The bone is being broken down under your gums, and you can lose up to 25% of the bone width in the first year.
Without treatment, the bone loss gets worse over time.
It follows a pattern most people don’t expect. In the first year, you can lose up to 25% of bone width, usually the most during the first few weeks.
After five years, a lot of bone volume is gone, making it harder to place implants and sometimes requiring extra steps to prepare.
By the 10th year, many people don’t have enough bone structure to support implants without more extensive procedures.
You might start seeing visible changes, like hollow cheeks, a shorter face, and deeper wrinkles around your mouth.
It’s scary to realize these changes could have been avoided.
People often think it’s just part of aging, but it’s actually tooth loss that causes it.
Not all tooth replacement options stop bone loss.
Choosing the right one can help you keep your jaw strong and your face looking natural. Each option fills the gap in a different way, but only one prevents the bone loss from happening.
Dentures sit on your gums without connecting to the jawbone, so they don’t provide any stimulation and can actually speed up bone loss through pressure.
Bridges spread the gap by attaching to nearby teeth but don’t help the underlying bone stay strong.
Dental implants, like the ones in Orlando, FL, replace both the crown and the root.
They fuse with the jawbone to keep it strong and healthy forever.
The key difference in these options is how they interact with the jawbone.
Only dental implants replace both the visible tooth and the root part beneath the gum. This stops the bone loss from happening.
Your face shape depends on the jawbone.
When the bone shrinks, your face can look sunken and aged. Dental implants help maintain the jaw structure.
The post in the implant sends signals to the bone like a real tooth root.
- This tells your body to keep the bone strong. As long as the implant is in place, this process continues.
- Implants keep the bone volume that supports your face, preventing the hollow look that comes with bone loss.
- They also help keep your lips in their natural position and shape by supporting the structure beneath them.
- Maintaining enough bone height helps your chin stay at the right distance from your nose, avoiding the look of an aged face.
Missing teeth can cause problems that go far beyond your mouth.
- Bone loss can change your face in ways that make you look older and feel less confident. Dental implants are the only replacement that truly prevents this.
- The specialists at Mosaic Dental Center can look at your specific situation and explain how implants might help you.
- Taking care of your jawbone now helps keep your face looking the way it should for years to come.