How Dental Implants Support Jaw Bone Health

Losing one or more teeth can have serious consequences on your oral health. Not only that it will affect your appearance and lower your self-esteem, but missing teeth can also affect the health of your jaw. When the jaw bone is not stimulated, that can lead to jaw bone density loss. Jaw bone density loss can also lead to sagging skin, wrinkles around the mouth, jaw pain, and limited jaw movement, as well as headaches.

While there are plenty of teeth replacement options nowadays, dental implants are the most effective when it comes to promoting jaw bone health.

Here’s what you need to know.

The Implant Will Stimulate the Jawbone

One of the reasons dental implants are so effective has to do with the way they work. A metal post will be inserted into the jawbone and will work just like your natural teeth.

You need to keep in mind that this process will take a long time to be completed (between six and nine months). Once the post is inserted into the jawbone, a process called osseointegration will start, which means that the metal post will fuse with the jawbone tissue.

If the osseointegration process is successful, then the implant will start acting like a natural root, stimulating the jawbone and promoting jawbone growth.

What If You Don’t Have Enough Jawbone Mass?

If you had missing teeth for a while now, it’s possible to not have enough jawbone density to support a dental implant. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t get an implant.

If that’s the case for you, then your dentist will likely recommend a bone graft to help strengthen your jawbone so it can support the metal post. If the jawbone is not strong enough and doesn’t have enough mass, then the osseointegration process will not be successful and the implant is more likely to fail.

After the bone graft is completed and your jawbone is strong enough, you can then proceed with the implant.

Will Other Replacement Options Work?

Other replacement options, such as dental bridges can help you regain the aspect and some of the functionality of your teeth, but they are not as effective as an implant.

Although you will be able to speak, chew, and smile like before, dental bridges will not stimulate your jawbone. That means that you will struggle with the same issues, including jawbone density loss, sagging skin, TMJ disorders, and so on.