Tooth loss can be triggered by bone resorption, in which the jawbone loses density and starts to recede progressively. Therefore, your go-to dentist in Worthington, Ohio, will immediately recommend exploring restorative dentistry options such as implants.
Dental implants stimulate your jawbone, offering the conditions needed to ensure continued bone growth in your smile. Here, we’ll explain this process, its consequences, and how to prevent it.
What Is Bone Resorption?
Bone is a living tissue that constantly renews itself through different processes. Bone resorption is one of those natural activities of our bone’s metabolism, consisting of the breakdown of bone tissue. This normal physiological process helps regulate calcium levels in the body. It’s fairly common, with two-thirds of adults estimated to experience some form of bone loss in the jaw during their lifetime.
It occurs when specialized cells, called osteoclasts, break down bone tissue and dissolve the bone matrix. Our bones are constantly rebuilding themselves throughout our lives, eliminating old bone (resorption) and adding new bone where needed (ossification) in a process known as bone remodeling.
When you’re a child, this process is quicker—in fact, ossification tends to be quicker than resorption, which is why you could jump right back in after a nasty fall with just a few scratches. In your 20s, the density of minerals in your bones peaks. As you continue aging, your bone mass may slowly decline, with bone loss overtaking bone buildup.
The Overseen Link of Bone Resorption and Tooth Loss
Several factors can contribute to bone loss in the jaw, but tooth loss is one of the most common.
When teeth are lost or extracted, the surrounding jawbone may start to resorb due to lack of stimulation. The jawbone relies on the pressure and stimulation from chewing and biting to maintain its density and structure. When a tooth is lost, the surrounding alveolar bone loses this stimulation, leading to bone resorption.
This process is known as disuse atrophy and can lead to significant bone loss over time. And it’s quick: within the first six months of tooth loss, it’s estimated that the alveolar ridge loses 60% of its density. Without intervention, the bone continues to deteriorate over time, making future dental restorations more difficult.
What Are the Consequences of Bone Resorption in the Mouth?
Bone resorption is an invisible process that can be quite unnoticeable at first. However, as time passes, you may notice some clear symptoms in your mouth, like discomfort, bone pain when you chew or bite down on something, and even visual changes.
Jawbone loss can also cause facial collapse, a condition in which the mouth seems to sink back into the face, the chin becomes more pointed, and the facial muscles weaken. This will result in early wrinkling around the mouth and lip thinning, making you look older than you are.
Bone resorption in the jawbone can also induce tooth loss and make it difficult or impossible to provide replacement teeth (implants, removable bridges, or dentures) without a bone transplant performed by an oral surgeon.
If bone resorption occurs too quickly, it can hurt oral and overall health, increasing the chances of tooth loss. If not treated, there may be a breakdown of bone tissue that affects the structural stability of dental implants if you have one. This increases the chances of an infection, or peri-implantitis, which can spread to the bone, fostering further bone loss and putting your entire health at risk.
Low-density loss increases your risk of fractures and breaks in case of sudden falls and accidents. Other symptoms can include:
- Difficulty speaking
- Loosening of natural teeth
- Lips sinking inward offering an aged appearance
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Jaw stiffness
- Toothache
- Hearing loss or ringing in your ears
How to Prevent Weakened Bones?
Prevention of bone resorption is always better than restoring bone density later on. This means paying attention to what you eat and how you brush your teeth is important.
Good oral hygiene is important. Brush your teeth twice a day for two minutes with fluoride toothpaste, floss daily, and visit your dentist regularly for checkups. Your bone health may also stabilize if you lead a healthy lifestyle with adequate calcium, vitamin D, and exercise. This means eating nutritive foods such as:
- Milk
- Yogurt
- Cheese
- Leafy greens, like kale and collard greens
- Asparagus
- Broccoli
- Salmon (with bones)
- Sardines
- Tofu
- Eggs
- Shellfish
- Seeds
- Nuts, especially almonds and cashews
Exercise can be highly beneficial for your bone health as muscles offer constant stimulation to your skeleton, which is necessary to prevent disuse atrophy.
Additionally, natural bone loss accelerates for women during menopause—around age 50—as levels of protective estrogen, a key hormone during bone remodeling, starts to decline. Because testosterone decreases gradually, the loss is more gradual for men.
To prevent further bone loss, women may be recommended calcium supplements and a specialized diet that helps reduce the chances of osteoporosis. However, by age 65, though, both sexes are even in terms of bone loss. After that, your bone mass steadily decreases for the remainder of your life, increasing your risk of fractures.
Alternative Treatments to Restore Lost Bone
Besides preventing bone density loss and maintaining a healthy diet, there are some key treatments you can consider to restore lost bone and stop resorption. The cause of bone loss, the state of your oral health, and your expectations will determine the course of treatment, so if you notice any symptoms, you should see a dentist right away.
Dental Implants
Jawbone loss is frequently treated with dental implants. Dental implants consist of inserting a titanium post into the jawbone. Titanium is a biocompatible material, which means that bone can osseointegrate and mend with the implant screw, offering a replacement tooth root.
This ensures a stable foundation for prosthetic teeth while supporting the preservation of bone and remaining teeth. In addition to replacing missing teeth, implants can stimulate bone growth and return the osseointegration and resorption balance naturally occurring in your jaw.
If you are considering getting dental implants to replace lost jawbone, discuss your options with your dentist.
Bone Grafting
The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons states that bone grafting, one of the most common bone augmentation techniques, can reverse jawbone loss. This method stops bone resorption by implanting a tiny portion of bone from another area of the patient's body into the jaw.
Bone graft material is utilized in this procedure to replace lost bone volume, height, and curvature due to bone resorption. Bone grafts frequently involve donated bone tissue or bone from the patient's body.
Removing Diseased Bone
Bone loss in the jaw can result from a number of illnesses, including cancer. Your dentist might be able to treat the condition and halt the progression of bone loss if it is identified early. Among the possible treatments for bone disease are:
- Taking the diseased bone out
- Chemotherapy
- Radiation therapy
- Targeted drug therapy
A bone biopsy could be performed to examine the diseased bone tissue in more detail.
Protect Your Smile with the Help of a Dentist in Worthington, Ohio
Our bones aren’t visible daily, so overseeing the changes in your skeleton’s structure can be hard to notice. However, with the help of a qualified dentist, you can learn all the tips you need to protect your smile.
Besides bone loss, infectious diseases like periodontitis can destroy the bone supporting the teeth, so good oral hygiene and regular dental visits are also crucial to protect your oral health. If you’d like to learn more tips about your jawbone oral health, contact Spectrum Dental & Prosthetics and schedule a consultation immediately!
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