Preserving Bone

Preserving Bone With Dental Implants

Your cosmetic dentist will tell you how important the bones in your jaw and face are, and there are treatments that preserve bone rather than cause them to shrink through a process known as resorption.

The bones in your jaw and face are constantly stimulated by the roots of your teeth. If you lose a tooth, that bone is no longer energized and can begin to shrink away. Dental implant posts, typically made of titanium, mimic the role of the tooth’s natural roots, and continually vitalize the bone, preserving it.

As part of the dental implant healing process, the implant post fuses directly to the bone. This fusion is called osseointegration.

Osseointegration is dependent largely upon the quantity and the quality of the bone around the implant site. It takes between three and nine months to achieve osseointegration following dental implant therapy. Patient behaviors like smoking or drinking to excess can slow this process and cause complications. Osseointegration provides a very stable anchor point for the replacement tooth and is often the best choice for replacing a missing tooth.

Dental implants preserve bone and prevent resorption. This allows your facial structure to remain the same, ensuring that your facial structure won’t collapse. Missing teeth that are treated with dental implant therapy stave off problems commonly associated with tooth loss, such as surrounding teeth shifting into the open space or other problems with bite alignment and jaw joints.

Resorption begins immediately following tooth extraction, and this shrinkage will continue over the coming year, horizontally as well as vertically in the mouth. The bulk of the shrinkage happens within the first few months following tooth loss. Replacing this missing tooth with a dental implant can reduce resorption significantly.

The only restorative treatment that preserves bone is dental implant therapy. Talk to your cosmetic dentist to see if dental implants are the solution to your dental needs.