Tooth loss is likely to affect many of us, either as a result of ageing or disease, or due to some sort of trauma. Losing even a single tooth can be traumatic, particularly if the tooth is in a visible area in the mouth and it can affect people psychologically and emotionally. While the most obvious effect of tooth loss is aesthetic, losing teeth can impact your dental health in other ways.
In fact losing teeth can affect the function and health of your remaining teeth as well as facial aesthetics. Although teeth are obviously important for chewing and speaking, the main impact of tooth loss is on your jawbone. You may not realize it, but the bone surrounding your teeth needs sufficient amount of stimulation to maintain its density and shape.
How Your Jawbone Is Affected by Tooth Loss
The bone surrounding your teeth is a special type called alveolar bone and the necessary stimulation to keep it strong and healthy is provided by teeth. Each day your teeth come into contact with each other and with foods. This creates hundreds of small stresses that are transmitted through the tooth and out into the tooth roots and into the bone surrounding the tooth. That stimulation prompts the bone to continually rebuild itself and to remodel itself. If the tooth is lost, the lack of stimulation results in a loss of alveolar bone. This is serious as it can mean the jawbone will lose width, height and volume.
25% of Bone Is Lost in the First Year after the Tooth Is Removed
Incredibly, there is a 25% loss in the width of bone during the first year after a tooth is removed, while in the years following tooth loss there will be a 4 mm decrease in height. As the bone continues to lose its volume, it also affects gum tissue which will gradually decrease. People who have lost teeth will find the ability to chew and to speak clearly can be impaired, and losing more teeth means more loss of function. For anyone who has lost all their teeth the consequences can be serious. This is because once alveolar bone is lost, then the jawbone underneath it will begin to reabsorb. As a result, your facial dimensions can change as the distance between your nose and chin will decrease, causing the lower part of the face to collapse inwards while the chin will come forwards and upwards. Without teeth, your cheeks can begin to look hollow as there won’t be any proper support for the facial muscles. Losing an excessive amount of jawbone can increase the risk of jaw fractures.
Even if you only lose back teeth, this can affect the vertical dimensions of the face and can cause the front teeth to be squashed or pushed outwards as they aren’t designed to support facial height or to chew food. The effect on self-confidence can be considerable.
Dental Implants Help Halt the Loss of Bone
Dental implants nyc help restore stimulation to the alveolar bone, preventing its loss and this is just one reason why you’ll find the dentists at the Central Park South Dental Care are so keen on this type of tooth replacement. If you are faced with tooth loss and are thinking about dental implants, it’s best to have them as soon as you can; bearing in mind how much bone can be lost in the first year after teeth are removed.
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