Aging, Bone Loss, and How Dental Implants Can Help

Outside of their normal chewing and smiling duties, teeth play a vital role in maintaining the shape and structure of the face. Losing them can result in a sunken appearance that makes us look older than our age. Many people don’t realize that maintaining a healthy bone structure in their mouth and jaw is crucial to looking healthy and young.

The sunken appearance that many elderly people acquire as they age may not be an inevitable part of aging. For many, their faces “sink in” due to declining bone health resulting from missing teeth or even the treatments that attempt to hide them. Without teeth or implants, your jawbone literally melts away.

To prevent this decline and preserve their facial vitality, many are turning to advanced dental implants to prevent further bone loss and premature aging.

Continue reading if you or someone you know faces these issues and would like to learn more about how to recover from them.

How Our Appearance Changes Due to Tooth Loss

People with missing teeth tend to look older, and it’s not all in your imagination. Our teeth support nearly 40% of our facial structures,so missing even one tooth can impact our whole appearance. The problem, often premature aging, usually occurs in stages.

First, other teeth shift towards the space left by the missing tooth. Then, the jawbone begins to recede, (as the bone melts away from lack of stimulation), shifting the remaining teeth and sometimes causing additional tooth loss. As the face loses its natural support and become sunken, the person seems to age rapidly, acquiring a pronounced chin and more prominent wrinkles. Sometimes referred to as a “witch’s chin,” this physical change can worsen over time, particularly in elderly people, who are more susceptible to tooth loss.

Unfortunately, the physical changes are not limited to appearances. For a full set of teeth, contact with other teeth through normal activity keeps the bones healthy and growing. When a tooth is missing, many patients experience as much as 25% loss of width in the jawbone within the first year due to a lack of this essential interaction between teeth. This Causes a host of consequences ranging from visual changes to serious medical issues.

Key Consequences of Uncontrolled Tooth Loss

Missing teeth can set off a chain reaction that leads to jaw bone recession, a changing appearance, and more. These are the main consequences of untreated tooth loss to keep in mind:

• ‍Bone deterioration: When teeth no longer support the facial bones and tissues, the structures weaken, which can put more teeth in danger. (teeth literally fall into the closest hole left)‍
• Shifts and misalignment: Without other teeth to support them, the remaining teeth often shift, leading to bite irregularities, crowding, and eventual gum disease and tooth decay.‍
• Gum issues: As the gums become affected,many experience chewing difficulties, a higher rate of oral infections, and chronic pain.‍
• Aesthetic decline: The appearance changes resulting from tooth loss can directly impact how old someone looks.‍
• General health decline: Missing teeth can cause headaches, issues with eating and speaking, sinus complications, andmore.‍
• Depression: The above difficulties can all contribute to a loss of confidence, leading to depression caused by the individual’s changing appearance and health status.

Why Bridges and Dentures Cannot Prevent Bone Loss

Bridges can fix a missing tooth in a cosmetic sense. Similarly, dentures contribute to chewing and speaking issues while carrying an embarrassing stigma, but they can provide false teeth for appearance’s sake. However, these solutions may be even worse than inadequate, as they actively contribute to bone loss.

When tooth roots are missing, the jawbone lacks vital stimulation, leading to shrinkage through a process called “resorption.” The Presence of bridges and dentures accelerates this process, as many who wear them discover that their appliances become looser over time.

As the bone shrinks, the ridge under the dentures flattens, making it more difficult for the wearer to bite, chew, and speak comfortably. Additionally, they cannot prevent the cosmetic changes to the wearer’s face that result from unattended bone loss.

Can Dentures Change My Appearance?

As dentures become looser over time, they more closely follow the shape of the wearer’s jaw, contributing to the “witch chin”appearance. This significant physical manifestation results from the receding jawbone, which disrupts the normal balance between muscle, fat, and bone that supports a healthy face.

While sagging and premature aging can be natural results of getting older, correctly made dentures can mitigate the visual impact by supporting these important facial structures. By reducing the movement between the upper and lower teeth, well-made dentures can restore a person’s correct face height and healthy facial muscle tone.

However, treating facial collapse after it has occurred is a costly and difficult process. It’s far preferable to replace lost teeth with dental implants that support dentures properly before facial collapse occurs.

Dental Implants: A Solution for Aging and Bone Loss

Dental implants act as artificial tooth roots, stimulating the jawbone. This prevents further bone degradation while providing natural-looking teeth that blend seamlessly with the teeth around them.

By mitigating (stopping) bone loss, dental implants can reverse the physical effects of aging, lifting the sagging structures and restoring the wearer’s natural, youthful proportions. By recreating the presence of tooth roots, implants restore the wearer’s bite strength, correcting their chewing and speaking difficulties.

Many modern implant systems account for minimal bone depth due to degradation. The All-On-4 implant system, for instance, is implanted at strategic angles to distribute biting and chewing forces more evenly. Using as few as four implants, this revolutionary system can restore a patient's facial structure, even when the bone loss is profound.

How the Bone Structure Supports Dental Implants

Unlike bridges and dentures, dental implants attach directly to the jawbone, secured with a small screw covered by the replacement false tooth. Since the jawbone changes to accommodate its surroundings, losing the support of tooth roots can lead to bone recession. As a result, some patients may not have enough bone density or structural width to accommodate dental implants.

Patients in this position may wonder if their severe bone loss prevents them from receiving implants. Fortunately, providers can offer personalized treatment options based on the type, location, and degree of bone loss. A bone graft or zygomatic dental implant will be required to assist patients with severe bone loss.

Importantly, missing teeth are not the only factor that can lead to a weakened jawbone. Periodontal disease, bacteria, tooth decay, and genetic factors can also contribute.

What are Zygomatic Dental Implants?

Zygomatic dental implants assist patients with severe bone loss in being able to get dental implants. Unlike more complex bone grafts and older implants, they are not implanted in the upper jaw bone (maxilla) or lower jawbone (mandible). Instead, zygomatic implants are named for their placement in the cheekbone or zygomatic bone.

The advantage (good news) of this placement is that cheekbones do not weaken with tooth loss like the jawbones do. This means that zygomatic implants can be anchored to strong, healthy bones even in the presence of severe jawbone degradation. They will heal faster and simpler than bone graft as well. Another advantage is that we can replace a full arch of teeth in as little as one day with Zygomatic Implants.

Note that due to their location (in the cheekbones), zygomatic implants are only effective for treating bone loss in the upper jaw. Other Solutions are needed to treat the lower jaw.

Bone Grafts and Dental Implants

If zygomatic implants are not possible due to the location of the bone loss, a bone graft can restore the jawbone’s ability to support the implants. Bone grafts are more complex but can effectively restore bone integrity, particularly in the mandible (lower jaw),while restoring the facial structure and resolving chewing and speaking difficulties.

Bone grafts work by implanting sections of healthy bone into the damaged area. Since bone is a living tissue, it can adapt to the new location as it heals, which takes at least a month. Once healed, dental implants can be anchored to the new, healthy bone.

Your dentist can provide more information about your specific circumstances. But even patients with severe bone loss have options. Whether a zygomatic implant or bone graft is used, the goal is the same: to provide healthy bone structures capable of supporting a dental implant.

Can Dental Implants Reverse Facial Aging? Yes

Implants trick the body into stimulating bone growth by acting in the place of a natural tooth root. In this way, dental implants can prevent further bone loss as well as stimulate regrowth, leading to a healthier facial structure that retains its natural contours.

With proper placement, implants can restore this structure,lowering the risk of losing more teeth and returning the patient’s face to a more youthful appearance.

Dental Implants: A Lifelong Solution and One-Time Investment in Your Smile

At first glance, dental implants may seem like a pricey alternative to other methods of replacing missing teeth. However, they have advantages that persist beyond the initial cost since dentures and bridges need to be repaired or replaced every 5-10 years while implants last a lifetime.

The cumulative cost of maintaining other methods of tooth replacement gives permanent dental implants an advantage. However, their ability to prevent further bone loss is even more significant. While dentures and bridges contribute to deterioration by denying the jawbone vital stimulation, dental implants maintain facial structures by mimicking the presence of real teeth.

The risk of losing even more teeth and compounding bone loss is a harsh reality for those who rely on bridges and dentures to support their face and hide their missing teeth. With dental implants, years of sagging will melt away, restoring facial muscle tone, normal eating and speaking abilities,and a healthy, youthful appearance.

If you are considering dental implants, we invite you to schedule a consultation with our dedicated implant team at the Florida Dental Implant Institute. During the consultation, you will gain insights into your unique treatment needs and projected costs from Dr. Eberle, an expert with years of experience treating complex cases involving tooth loss and severe bone degradation. His team consists of highly skilled specialists and staff members who work together to create a personalized treatment plan for your needs. We also provide comprehensive and affordable financing options to ensure that you can get, or get back, the youthful smile you deserve.