What happens when you lose bone in your mouth? (2023)

What happens when you lose bone in your mouth?

Left untreated, the bone in your jaw and around your teeth will continue to resorb, leading to more tooth loss, disease, and pain. There is good news! In most cases, dental bone loss can be stopped. And with expert periodontal care, you can actually regenerate bone and reverse bone loss.

Bone grafting.

This procedure is performed when periodontitis has destroyed the bone surrounding your tooth root. The graft may be composed of small fragments of your own bone, or the bone may be synthetic or donated. The bone graft helps prevent tooth loss by holding your tooth in place.

Periodontitis (per-e-o-don-TIE-tis), also called gum disease, is a serious gum infection that damages the soft tissue and, without treatment, can destroy the bone that supports your teeth. Periodontitis can cause teeth to loosen or lead to tooth loss. Periodontitis is common but largely preventable.

Though you will probably feel back to normal within a week or two, complete dental bone graft healing can take between three and nine months – sometimes longer.

When it comes down to it, you can wear dentures even if you have experienced bone loss. Your dentures may need to be adjusted once a year in order to maintain the proper fit to your mouth. While dentures might slow bone resorption, they won't stop it completely so your mouth will still change over time.

While your gums won't grow back on their own, surgical treatment can be used to replace the missing tissue, and restore both your appearance and your oral health. Gum grafting involves taking soft tissue from another part of the mouth and grafting it onto your gums.

Vitamin D. Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium while boosting bone mineral density, so it's crucial to get an adequate amount of vitamin D to get the most out of your calcium intake.

Fortunately, bone loss in the jaw can be reversed after its deterioration. Oral & Facial Surgery of Pittsburgh provides treatment options that help a patient to eat and speak clearly. Options for reversal include: Bone grafting – The most common treatment for jawbone atrophy is a bone graft.

Maintain excellent oral hygiene through proper brushing and flossing on a regular basis. Visit your dentist at regular intervals of six months for thorough teeth cleaning. Use toothpaste that contains fluoride in its ingredient list. Increase your calcium intake through food and supplements.

Infections are usually the major cause of teeth bone loss which may involve the infection in the nerve of the teeth roots or infections of the gums. Characteristically, gum infections are usually present for several months or years and this could lead to bone loss in the region of the infected tooth or set of teeth.

What medications cause bone loss in teeth?

Corticosteroids, such as prednisone, and antiepileptic drugs, can lead to the loss of bone that supports your teeth. Bisphosphonates, drugs used to treat osteoporosis, can sometimes cause a rare condition called osteonecrosis of the jawbone, which results in destruction of the jawbone.

Jawbone loss can also affect the stability your remaining teeth and cause them to shift out of place. Other issues that can result from atrophy include: Headaches. Facial and jaw pain.

However, there are a number of medical conditions and medications that can cause more rapid bone loss — the most common conditions are hyperparathyroidism, hyperthyroidism, vitamin D deficiency and celiac disease, and the most common medications are steroids and aromatase inhibitors.

Bone graft

Bone grafting is a normal procedure done to generate new bone. The treatment is a minimally invasive procedure where the dentist uses new bone material to regenerate the bone. Usually, the dentist uses new bone from your body, the hips.

FAQ About Dental Bone Graft

This is a minor surgical procedure where you will be under either general or local anesthesia.

Periodontal disease can result in acceleration of bone loss and when you lose the teeth the remaining bone may be inadequate. This can make your experience with dentures not ideal. For anyone who may have experienced oral cancer with reconstructive surgery, anatomy and function may have changed.

Torus or Tori (plural) is a benign bone growth in the mouth, and in 90 percent of cases, there is a torus on both the left and right sides of your oral cavity, making this an overwhelmingly bilateral condition. This oral abnormality normally does not cause any serious damage.

While dentures can restore the appearance of a person's smile, they cannot help prevent jawbone deterioration. Indeed, some research suggests that wearing dentures may actually increase the rate at which the bone in the mouth atrophies.

During periodontal surgery the periodontist may need to place a bone graft to help regenerate lost tooth supporting bone. During the procedure the periodontist folds back part of the gum and cleans out any infected gum tissue, bacteria covered calculus and rough tooth surfaces that can make gum disease worse.

Sensodyne Toothpaste

The top toothpaste available on the market that helps reduce sensitivity caused by receding gums is Sensodyne.

Does salt water help receding gums?

Use a Salt Water Rinse

It has potential benefits as an antibacterial agent and can help soothe inflamed, sore gums. Rinsing with salt water can also keep bacteria that contribute to gum recession under control. You can do this by mixing some warm water with one or two teaspoons of salt.

Bone loss can be prevented by giving the jawbone a replacement tooth with a root that can exert the same or similar pressure as natural teeth. This is done immediately after extraction by replacing single teeth with dental implants, or by using a fixed implant-supported bridge or denture.

Patients who lose a part of their jaw—whether from injury, infection, disease, or as a side effect of cancer treatment—can have the missing jawbone replaced through reconstruction.

Bone loss around the teeth and in the jaws is a lot more common than you might think and can occur after losing teeth or, more commonly, as a result of 'periodontal disease' or 'gum disease'. This disease is where the bacteria in dental plaque causes the bone supporting the teeth to be gradually eaten away.

Patients who lose a part of their jaw—whether from injury, infection, disease, or as a side effect of cancer treatment—can have the missing jawbone replaced through reconstruction.

The most common cause of bone loss is tooth extraction. The jawbone is preserved through activities like chewing and biting. When an adult tooth is removed and not replaced, jaw bone deterioration begins. In the first year after tooth extraction 25% of bone is lost, and this bone loss continues with time.

Bone loss can occur very quickly after tooth extraction, often in as little as six weeks, so it is important to have a plan for replacement ready. Dr. Azarbal will provide guidance in determining the ideal timeline for your restorations at your initial consultation.

Vitamin D. Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium while boosting bone mineral density, so it's crucial to get an adequate amount of vitamin D to get the most out of your calcium intake.

Corticosteroids, such as prednisone, and antiepileptic drugs, can lead to the loss of bone that supports your teeth. Bisphosphonates, drugs used to treat osteoporosis, can sometimes cause a rare condition called osteonecrosis of the jawbone, which results in destruction of the jawbone.

Dentures and Bone Loss

While a denture can restore a degree of dental function and offer beautiful aesthetics, they do nothing to replace the roots of teeth. Therefore, they do not provide the jawbone with the stimulus it needs and are powerless to stop bone resorption.

How long does it take to recover from jaw surgery?

Initial jaw healing typically takes about six weeks after surgery, but complete healing can take up to 12 weeks. After initial jaw healing — at about six weeks — your orthodontist finishes aligning your teeth with braces. The entire orthodontic process, including surgery and braces, may take several years.

Jaw surgery is usually not painful.

This misconception makes the whole procedure seem utterly invasive and is supported by thousands of photos of bruised and swollen people after undergoing orthognathic surgery, so it may be difficult to believe that very few patients report actual pain.

Missing teeth are common — an estimated 20% of adults are missing at least one tooth) — and they can significantly contribute to bone loss. In the first year after losing a tooth, 25% of the surrounding bone is lost and it will continue to wear away over time.

ONJ causes death of the jawbone tissue and can lead to painful symptoms. Jaws regenerate more often than other bones, so more medication directs there.

What is Bone Grafting? Bone grafting assists with the regeneration of lost or declining bone structure. For patients who have experienced a change in facial features due to bone loss, grafting also helps restore the face's natural shape and contours.

What can happen if you don't get a bone graft after an extraction? The bone will heal, but it will heal in its own way – meaning that the walls that used to house that tooth could collapse in and cause you to lose height of bone and you may also lose width of bone.