Like most dental health concerns, tooth loss is best addressed as soon as possible. Not only does his help you avoid many of the day-to-day consequences of tooth loss, but it also helps slow down or stop the many other concerns that result from the loss of your natural tooth structure. Once of these concerns is the diminished stimulation in your jawbone now that it’s missing one or more natural teeth roots. This can cause the bone structure to lose mass and density over time, and for many patients who wish to rebuild their smiles, jawbone grafting may be an important part of addressing this concern before they can receive their custom restoration.
Your smile’s foundation after tooth loss
The effects of losing a tooth root on the rest of your oral health is significant, and often, more so than you realize at first. Your teeth roots make up an important part of the foundation of your entire smile. Not only do they give the crowns of your teeth the stability they need to bite and chew your food, but they also transfer that bite pressure to your jawbone to stimulate the structure. While losing a tooth root can negatively impact your smile’s foundation, replacing it with a dental implant may help you mitigate or prevent those effects.
What does jawbone grafting entail?
For some patients who receive dental implants, their tooth loss hasn’t occurred recently. This means the loss has had time to cause noticeable consequences to their oral health, including lost mass and density in the area of the jawbone that is no longer stimulated. For the bone structure to successfully receive and support an appropriate number of dental implant posts, it must have enough strength and integrity. If it’s lost enough mass and density, restoring that strength and integrity could require grafting, or bonding, a small amount of donor bone structure to the weakened area of your dental ridge.
Creating better support for your implants
The key to success for any dental implant restoration is the level of support the implant posts can provide your restoration. This depends on a process known as osseointegration, which involves the fusing of your jawbone structure to the dental implant post’s biocompatible titanium surface. Osseointegration requires adequate healthy bone structure to facilitate its bonding to the implant post, and to offer the post and your restoration the utmost support when you bite and chew.
Learn if you can benefit from jawbone grafting
If the health and integrity of your jawbone structure has been compromised following tooth loss, then jawbone grafting may be an important step in restoring your smile. To learn more, schedule a consultation by calling Santa Rosa Oral Surgery in Santa Rosa, CA, today at 707-545-4625.