Missing teeth can make it challenging to complete a variety of tasks – including speaking clearly, chewing your food thoroughly, and smiling without feeling self-conscious. However, these issues are just on the surface. The truth is that when you’re missing teeth, the shape of your face completely transforms. Continue reading to learn more about how this happens and what you can do about it.
How Does Tooth Loss Change Your Face Shape?
If you have a missing tooth or two somewhere in your mouth, you may not be too worried about it. After all, you still have the vast majority of your smile. However, all of your teeth are important when it comes to the shape and structure of your face. If you are missing a tooth in the back of your mouth, it may not affect your ability to chew or speak very much, but your jawbone will know the difference.
When there are no longer tooth roots stimulating the jawbone in an area, it begins to be reabsorbed by the body. Missing any number of teeth will result in atrophy of the jawbone. When a jawbone becomes too weak and fragile, it won’t even be able to support dental implants. The only options at this point are traditional dentures or a bone graft.
How Does Facial Collapse Occur?
When your jawbone becomes weak over the years after missing teeth, it will eventually no longer be able to support the structure of the face, leading it to collapse. This means that you will notice a sunken look to your face or a shorter face. This will also result in the muscles around your lips weakening, leading to more wrinkles. This can add decades to one’s appearance! Over time, the amount of space between the nose and chin may decrease, changing the appearance of your entire face.
How Can You Prevent Jawbone Deterioration?
To prevent the jawbone from being reabsorbed by the body, the roots of the missing teeth must be replaced. Currently, the only tooth replacement option out there that replaces the entirety of the missing tooth is a dental implant. As opposed to dentures and dental bridges, dental implants stimulate bone growth and prevent additional jawbone loss. This will help to prevent facial collapse due to bone loss.
If you are missing teeth, don’t wait for bone loss to progress before you replace them. Instead, consider asking your dentist about replacing your missing teeth with dental implants. This way, you can preserve the health of your smile and the integrity of your face.
About the Practice
At DentaCrafters PLLC, Dr. Nada Elsadig and Dr. Lan Deckett work together to serve the Falls Church community. With their combined experience and expertise, patients can get pretty much anything they need under one roof. They even complete the entire dental implant process in-house. To learn more about dental implants or to schedule a consultation, visit their website or call (703) 241-5775.