Jawbone Loss: Symptoms, Effects, and How to Prevent It

Bones constantly change throughout life, removing old tissue and creating new ones where needed. This natural process becomes slower as you age, though, which is why your dentist in Worthington, Ohio, may have told you that dental implants aren’t an option for you.

There’s more to bone resorption than dental implants, though. If left untreated, it can cause tooth loss, gum disease, and even facial collapse. That’s why we came up with this detailed guide on everything you need to know about jawbone loss and how to prevent it.  

What Is Bone Resorption?

Bone resorption is a natural process of our bone’s metabolism. It helps regulate calcium levels in the body by breaking down and remodeling bone tissue, and it plays a very important role in dentistry.

For instance, orthodontic treatments like braces can only move and realign teeth into new positions thanks to resorption and ossification. Additionally, the bone growth around dental implants gives them stable support, making them as durable as natural teeth.

The problem arises when bone breakdown occurs at a faster pace than replenishment. There are several reasons for that, including specific illnesses or low calcium levels that make the body “save costs” when remodeling.

Other common causes are:

• Tooth loss

• Chewing tobacco

• Poor nutrition

• Rheumatoid arthritis or osteoporosis

• Periodontitis, a severe case of gum disease

All of this can lead to a loss in bone density and increase your risk of fractures.

How Does Bone Remodeling Work?

There are two types of cells involved during the bone remodeling process.  

• Osteoclasts break down and reabsorb old bone into the bloodstream.

• Osteoblasts begin new bone growth where it's needed.

Remember when you could fall out of a tree as a kid and bounce right back like nothing happened? That’s because the ossification process is much faster when you’re a kid. However, if you were to fall down now, chances are high the outcome would be different.

Bone resorption becomes slower as time goes by, to the point where two-thirds of adults are expected to experience some form of jawbone loss during their lifetime. And the number is even higher among women after menopause.

What Are the Symptoms of Bone Resorption?  

If you don’t attend regular medical checkups, jawbone loss can be completely undetectable. The most obvious symptom is jaw pain or discomfort, particularly when you bite or chew on something. Other symptoms can include:  

• Wrinkles appearing around the mouth or lips sinking inwards

• Speech problems

• Natural teeth becoming loose

• Migraines and dizziness  

• Jaw stiffness  

• Toothaches  

• Loss of hearing or ringing in the ears

What Are the Effects of Bone Resorption?  

People often discover their bone loss when they need reconstructive dentistry but find out that they don’t have enough density to support an implant. That’s one of the consequences of bone resorption.  

When this happens, the only way to get replacement teeth, besides restorative dentures, is after undergoing a bone transplant performed by an oral surgeon.

However, low bone density has other, more serious consequences, such as facial collapse. When this happens, your chin becomes more pointed, your facial muscles weaken, and your mouth appears to sink back into your face, making you look older.

If left untreated, bone resorption can lead to bone recession, fractures, and an overall decrease in bone mass. In worst-case scenarios, it can result in bone disease, which causes patients to suffer from extreme pain and have trouble chewing or speaking.  

How Is Bone Resorption Detected?

The best way to detect bone loss in the jaw is with a thorough dental exam using advanced state-of-the-art technology.

• Your dentist can check for any changes in your bone density and structure with a simple X-ray.

• A bone mineral density (BMD) test can precisely indicate the level of tissue loss. This test uses a special type of X-ray to measure the amount of bone in your jaw.  

• If severe resorption is suspected, your dentist might prescribe a computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan.  

Treatment of Jawbone Loss and Bone Resorption

If you’re experiencing bone loss in your jaw, it’s important to start treatment as soon as possible to prevent the bone loss from progressing and restore bone density. Some options are:

• Dental implants  

Dental implants are a common way to treat jawbone loss. As we mentioned, tooth loss leads to bone recession, so replacing the missing root with a metal implant can help stop the loss of bone density and make it recover its strength.

An implant also helps stimulate the entire jawbone, restoring its natural balance of osseointegration and resorption and keeping it healthy.

• Bone grafting

When bone loss is too severe, dentists recommend undergoing bone grafting before a dental implant. This augmentation procedure involves removing a small amount of bone from another part of the patient’s body and implanting it in the jaw.

Donated bone tissue can also be used. The inserted bone graft material fuses with the jawbone, helping it restore bone volume, height, and curvature.

• Removing diseased bone  

Serious illnesses like cancer can cause bone diseases in the jaw. This needs to be detected as soon as possible to stop the loss from progressing. Treatments that can do this include:

• Removing the diseased bone

• Chemotherapy

• Radiation therapy

• Localized hormone therapy

Alternatively, you might have to conduct a bone biopsy to analyze diseased bone tissue further and discard the risk of any further issues.

How to Prevent Bone Resorption?  

In every field of medicine, prevention is the best treatment. Instead of restoring bone dentistry later on, you can do things like pay attention to what you eat or brush your teeth regularly to prevent resorption.  

Here is a list of precautions we recommend taking:

• Maintain good oral hygiene: Brush your teeth twice a day for two minutes with fluoride toothpaste, floss daily, and visit your dentist regularly for checkups.  

• Follow a healthy diet: Eating foods rich in calcium and vitamin D, such as milk, yogurt, cheese, leafy greens, and nuts, can keep bone resorption at bay.

• Consider calcium supplements: Calcium is a mineral essential for bone health, so supplements can help strengthen your body and prevent bone loss and fractures.

Jawbone Resorption and Osteoporosis in Women

Osteoporosis is a serious condition caused by extreme bone loss. Our bones have a porous structure, and when bone remodeling doesn’t work as it should, these holes become bigger, making them lose density and become fragile.

This is a common issue among women. One in four women over the age of 50 suffer from osteoporosis because menopause lowers estrogen levels. This hormone is essential for osteoblasts, the cells that regulate bone remodeling.  

Drops in estrogen levels affect osteoblasts, leaving a major imbalance in the bone-remodeling process. When that happens, your bones weaken, leading to osteoporosis.

If you’re a woman around the age of 50, bone-loss prevention is very important. Make sure to visit your go-to clinical doctor, try to eat foods with lots of calcium, and walk as much as you can. A healthy metabolism is crucial to stopping bone resorption.

Visit a Dentist in Worthington, Ohio Today

If you’ve been diagnosed with jawbone loss, fear not. With the aid of your go-to dental professionals at Spectrum Dental & Prosthodontics, we can work out a plan with you and develop the best approach for your treatment.  

If you think that could be your case, give us a call!