If you’ve just lost some teeth, you’re likely more focused on your smile than anything else. After all, your new tooth gaps are immediate and noticeable. Still, try to consider how the problem will affect your face too. Tooth loss, you see, ages the latter when not properly treated. Fortunately, dental implants can (and would) solve that problem. To learn more about them, let your local Carlisle Dentist explain things. Here’s a summary, then, of how tooth loss harms face shape and implants help it.
How Tooth Loss Affects Face Shape
Lacking teeth does harm your smile’s appearance, without question. However, it also distorts your face’s shape.
Your jaw, in fact, needs teeth to preserve itself. Pearly whites provide it stimulus, allowing it to maintain its bone tissues. As such, your jawbone will start eroding if you lose any chompers. From there, you could suffer a facial collapse.
To be clear, a facial collapse occurs when the jaw’s bone loss ages your face. As the jawbone loses density, your cheeks will hollow out and look sunken. The corners of your mouth will also lose shape, giving you a prominent frown.
How Dental Implants Help
As it happens, implants can prevent and even reverse a facial collapse. Indeed, they’re the only prosthetic teeth with such an ability!
Unlike a denture or bridge, an implant replaces a tooth’s crown and root. It’s thus placed directly in the jaw’s socket, stimulating your jaw’s bone growth. The result is that the restoration not only fuses with your jawbone but also strengthens it. Your face will then look full and firm rather than saggy.
Tips for Implant Care
Of course, it isn’t like dental implants do all the work themselves. They’ll only help a face seem young if you care for them properly. As such, you should remember to follow the tips below:
- Practice Good Oral Hygiene – Brush twice daily, floss once daily, and rinse with mouthwash. These actions will keep your mouth clean and reduce the risk of implant failure.
- Avoid Bad Oral Habits – Chewing on ice or fingernails will likely crack your new restorations. Similarly, smoking tobacco may cause gum disease that makes your implants fail.
- See Your Dentist Often – As you attend regular checkups and cleanings, your dentist can diagnose oral issues early. In doing so, they’ll proceed to treat any problems before they threaten your implants.
As you can see, dental implants are good for both your smile and face. Benefit from them, therefore, by booking a treatment with your dental provider soon!
About the Practice
Flenniken Family Dentistry is based in Carlisle, PA. As led by Drs. Neil Flenniken and Suzan Rismani-Flenniken, our practice strives to make dental care easy and effective. To that end, we perform high-quality treatments that span preventive, cosmetic, and restorative dentistry. You can also count on us for a variety of emergency dental procedures. For more information or to book a visit, you can reach us on our website or by phone at (717)-249-7777.
