Aging can impact your body in many ways, and your grin is no exception. Unfortunately, tooth loss only becomes more prevalent as you grow older. This can harm your dental health because once a pearly white goes missing, your jawbone starts to weaken. In time, it can grow too frail to serve as a firm foundation for your smile. Thankfully, your dentist can fill in the gaps with dental implants, which are the only replacements that are embedded into your jaw for added strength and stability.
If you’ve had missing teeth for a while, though, you might wonder if it’s too late for you to undergo this procedure. Many older adults mistakenly believe they can’t successfully get dental implants either because of age or their current dental condition, but that’s not the case. Keep reading to find out why!
How Does Tooth Loss Impact My Jawbone?
Your missing teeth can impact more than your ability to eat and speak. The roots of your teeth stimulate your jawbone to produce new bone growth every time you bite down. When one goes missing, your body begins to reabsorb bone mass that’s no longer necessary to support it. Within the first year of losing a permanent tooth, 25% of the surrounding bone is lost and only continues to deteriorate. This can lead to additional tooth loss that exacerbates your condition.
Am I A Good Candidate for Dental Implants?
Before you can move forward with dental implants, you must schedule a consultation with your dentist. They’ll examine your mouth to look for any areas of concern that could interfere with your results. Sometimes, there’s an issue that must be treated first before you can continue. For example, if you have a cavity, your provider will fill it first to preserve your oral well-being.
They’ll also check to ensure that you have sufficient jawbone density to be able to support dental implants. If you lost your tooth months or even years ago and have waited a while to replace it, there’s a chance that it has eroded past the point that it can maintain prosthetics. Perhaps for this reason, many seniors assume that they won’t ever be able to undergo the surgery.
What Happens If My Jaw Is Too Weak?
If you’ve been informed that your jawbone isn’t currently thick enough to house artificial teeth, don’t lose hope! In many instances, a bone graft can bulk it up so that you can move forward. Keep in mind that it does require patience to recover from such a major procedure. Once the additional bone tissue is placed, it might take anywhere from 3 to 12 months for your mouth to heal. Your dentist will monitor your condition with periodic appointments and will let you know when you can safely proceed with dental implants.
Regardless of your age, your dentist can help you improve your oral health so that you can restore your smile with dental implants!
About the Practice
At Premier Dental, patients benefit from a husband-and-wife dental duo who work together to offer a full range of services under one roof. With decades of combined experience, they can handle everything from basic preventative care to more complex procedures like dental implants. They have advanced training and state-of-the-art equipment, so they can perform the surgery in the office so you don’t have to seek outside providers. They can help you through each step of the process so that you can have a beautifully rebuilt smile, regardless of your age. If you need a consultation, you can request one on the website or by calling (772) 234-5353.