3-plus reasons to treat bone loss sooner rather than later

Pasadena Periodontics not only treats missing teeth, but also treats lost bone. In your search for “bone loss treatment near me in Monrovia, California,” trust our dental specialists to rebuild this supportive tissue in your jaw. There are at least three reasons why it’s important to build up bone that has shrunk as a result of it being “reabsorbed” into the body.

1 – Help your dentures with a proper fit.

Conventional dentures speed up the process of bone resorption. As you bite down or clench your teeth, you place pressure on the ridge that encases and surrounds the roots of the teeth. This pressure results in resorption. Eventually, bone loss wears away the ridges and alters the fit of your dentures. Many of the issues you may have experienced with your denture are associated with a proper fit. As the denture no longer conforms to the tissues in the jaw, it becomes loose, slides around, and causes irritation and sore spots. It also affects how you chew your food and speak. Bone grafting and other treatments build up the structural support in your jaw. Your new denture then has the support it needs to stay in place. Dentures that are supported by implants also prevent and protect against future bone loss, because they restore the stimulation and pressure from behaviors like chewing to keep the bone dense and healthy.

2 – Regain confidence in your chewing and speech function.

While bone loss is accelerated by traditional dentures, the process can affect anyone who has lost a tooth. In fact, up to 70% of the volume of the bone where the tooth used to be is lost within the first year. Since the jawbone provides a strong foundation for your teeth, damage to it can cause teeth to shift around. Your “bite” or the relationship between your upper and lower teeth can also be affected. Shifting teeth and bite imbalances make it challenging to bite, tear, and break down food. Additionally, the loss of this structural support disrupts the delicate balance between the tongue and lips. When the position of the tongue and lips is altered, it affects the precise movements necessary for clear pronunciation. Bone loss also affects how air flows through the mouth, which changes vocal quality or how your voice sounds. By rebuilding the bony foundation of your jaw, we restore balance among the different parts of your mouth, as well as proper positioning and movement. You can eat comfortably and without difficulty again, and your ability to articulate and vocalize normally is restored, too.

 3 – Look like your vibrant self again.

The effects of bone loss transcend functional challenges. As the bone is reabsorbed, the lower third portion of the face can “collapse.” This means the loss of the bone in the ridge shortens the distance between your nose and chin. Such repositioning makes your jaw protrude, while the upper lip does the opposite and puckers out. Your nose may look more prominent due to the lip being drawn inward. In addition to altering the shape and contours of your face, the loss of structural support causes the overlying skin to sag. Such facial laxity gives rise to deep creases and folds around the mouth and nose. You may not recognize the far older-looking person staring back at you in the mirror. By stimulating the regrowth of the jawbone, your facial structure gets a volume boost. We reverse the sunken, collapsed, and otherwise “aged” look of your facial contours. Your face simply looks youthfully fuller, and wrinkles are smoothed out.

By treating bone loss, you are no longer precluded from getting implants, too. We create a solid base for the implant to integrate with the bone. Treatments like sinus augmentation and bone grafting support the success of your implants, though Pasadena Periodontics may be able to place implants successfully without these treatments, even when you have insufficient or inadequate bone. To find out more, call our Monrovia, CA area office at (626) 796-5386 to speak with a member of our team today.

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