As you might know, dentists have various ways to replace the teeth in your mouth. The most popular of these restorations, though, are dentures and dental implants. Most people consider those two treatments when they picture a restored smile. Even so, were you aware only implants offer jawbone preservation? Indeed, that feature marks them out as the better option. If you’d like to learn more, your local dentist can help. Here’s a summary of how tooth loss degrades your jaw and implants preserve it.
Lacking Teeth Leads to Bone Loss
Teeth do more than help with chewing food. Through daily use, they also stimulate and maintain your jawbone. As such, losing them causes your body to break down the bone near their sockets. A toothless smile, after all, has no way to vitalize the jaw.
Current science also supports this conclusion. In an Indian Journal of Dentistry study, researchers found that 25% of the bone near a missing tooth can be lost within a year of a tooth’s extraction.
Dentures Don’t Preserve Your Jaw
Make no mistake: dentures are excellent tooth replacements. They can fill out even the most broken grins! Still, the fact remains that they don’t prevent bone loss from missing teeth.
The problem stems from how dentures work. Namely, the prosthetics fit over your gums and remain stable with adhesive and suction. Such features don’t provide much bite force, so they don’t stimulate your jawbone enough. Therefore, dentures fail to stop your jaw from eroding.
These things being the case, denture-wearers tend to replace teeth often. Since their jawbones keep shrinking, their dentures get loose and need refitting.
How Dental Implants Solve the Issue
For a permanent solution to the jaw issue, patients should opt for dental implants. These prosthetic teeth, unlike dentures, are surgically inserted in the jaw. This placement lets them fuse with surrounding bone tissue. Over time, then, implants become rooted enough in the jawbone to stem its bone loss.
If such jawbone preservation weren’t enough, implants also offer benefits like:
- Better Eating – Implants restore almost the same bite force as natural teeth, meaning they’ll let you chew your favorite foods without worry.
- Easy Care – Compared to dentures, implants are easier to maintain. Just clean them as you do natural teeth — brush them twice daily, floss them once daily, and rinse them with mouthwash.
- Long Lifespan – On average, implants have a lifespan of 15-20 years. However, the restorations can last 30 years or more with proper care!
In the end, implants are the better choice for a stronger jaw. So, talk to your dentist about placement in the coming days.
About the Practice
Goodman Dental is based in Annapolis, MD. As led by Drs. Gary and Jeremy Goodman, our practice offers comprehensive and excellent dental care. In particular, we perform treatments that span preventive, cosmetic, and restorative dentistry, not to mention emergency procedures. Our office is also a certified provider of dentures and dental implants! For more information or to book a visit, you can reach us on our website or by phone at (410)-263-1919.