Today’s post focuses on bone health and missing teeth in La Jolla. Our teeth have many vital functions. We need them to chew our food, talk, and smile. But have you ever considered their role in holding up your face? When we lose teeth, the bone around the site of the extraction begins to recede. This, in turn, causes our facial muscles to sink in.
Bone Metabolism
We sometimes think of bone as a solid mass, unlike the softer tissues in our body. In reality, below the seemingly rock-hard surface, bone tissue is full of small holes, kind of like a sponge. In the interior bone tissue, the bone is constantly regenerating itself. This indispensable process is sometimes called “bone metabolism.” In the jaw bone, the movement of the teeth stimulates this process of rebuilding. When the tooth is gone, the bone starts to shrink as blood flow is reduced.
People with missing teeth in La Jolla not only have an unappealing gap in their smile, but they also begin to look older because of the bone recession and eventual facial sagging. It is not simply an issue of attractiveness—it poses serious health dangers. It may become difficult to chew food, making it harder to get appropriate nutrition. Mental health can also be affected when a patient with missing teeth loses confidence or withdraws from social situations because they are self-conscious about their smile.
Dental Implants Can Prevent Bone Recession
Restorative dentistry to the rescue! Dental implant technology delivers a tooth restoration solution that maintains healthy bone metabolism while providing near-normal tooth function. For individuals missing many of their teeth, it may not be possible to replace every single tooth with a dental implant. In many of these cases, dental implants can be used to provide an anchor for a partial denture.
What if your bone has shrunken so much that there is not enough to support an implant? You may be a candidate for bone augmentation or bone grafting. This procedure is routinely executed with success. If you are missing teeth in La Jolla, don’t resign yourself to dentures.
Contact Weston Spencer DDS – Conservative Comprehensive Dentistry:
858-683-1301
Location (Tap to open in Google Maps):
7855 Fay Avenue Suite 200
La Jolla, California
92037