Implant Retained vs. Implant-Supported Dentures

No doubt, you are aware of the importance of a beautiful smile, but did you know that nearly 40% of people worry about the appearance of their mouth once a month, if not more. Also, due to the appearance of their teeth and smile, 45% experience low confidence, and 70% never smile in photographs! Can you imagine that? That’s how important a great smile is in daily life. But more important than a dazzling smile is the importance of teeth themselves. Teeth are crucial for many reasons, not the least of them is chewing and speaking. Missing teeth affect your ability to consume food and the shape of your face and your jawline. It can cause jawbone loss and facial collapse. Not only that, but it’s emotionally hard and painful to have missing teeth. If you weren’t aware of all this, read on to see how your missing teeth change your face for the worse. All Your Teeth Are Equally Important in Preventing Facial Collapse  You might have this idea in your head that it doesn’t matter if you are missing a molar or two. Often, the only teeth people usually care about are the ones in front because those are the teeth that genuinely affect their appearance and smile. But every tooth in your jawbone is equally important for the shape of your face. If you lose a molar or two, it might not affect your ability to eat or speak that much, but your jawbone will feel the loss of those teeth quite definitely. What happens when you have missing teeth is that your jawbone starts experiencing bone loss. Missing one or two teeth will cause slower atrophy than missing many or all your teeth, of course. But the more your jawbone atrophies, the more teeth you will start losing because a weakened jaw bone cannot support the remaining teeth. It could also cause you to have a fractured jaw, as your jawbone becomes weaker and weaker. With a severely weakened jawbone, you often cannot use dental implants or dental bridges anymore to replace your missing teeth. Your only remaining option is traditional dentures. Or rebuilding your jawbone with bone grafts helps with bone loss and can allow us to treat you with dental implants or implant-supported dentures. Facial Collapse Is a Real Danger With Missing Teeth You might not think much of your missing teeth, especially if they are all the way in the back. Who looks back there anyway? But with missing teeth, your jawbone isn’t able to support the structure of your face anymore. Your facial structure, which depends on a well formed healthy jawbone to support all your teeth, will eventually start collapsing. You will notice this as a sunken look to your face or a shorter face (than normal). It will also result in the muscles around your lips to start deteriorating, causing wrinkles and an aged look. This is also important because as your jawbone begins to resorb, the space between your nose and chin decreases, and then the lower part of your face partially collapses and changes the structure and appearance of your entire face. You are used to your face looking a certain way, but that won’t stay as it is if you start losing one or more teeth from your jawline. The Shape and Alignment of Your Jawline Will Change As you might have realized by now, missing teeth are no laughing matter. The sooner you can get to the root of the problem and fix it, the better it is for your facial structure, your self-confidence, and the overall health of your mouth. Another thing to keep in mind is that when you start losing teeth, your teeth start shifting around in your mouth to accommodate all that freed up space. In a mouth without any missing teeth, there is not that much space to maneuver. As your teeth start shifting around, that changes the shape and alignment of your jawline. Your jawline starts sagging, and the muscles of your face are unsupported, causing your entire face to start sagging and collapsing, especially the lower half. This causes your jawline to change, which makes you look older. Your jawline, which might have been defined before, starts looking weaker, which gives you a less happy look. Almost as if you are frowning all the time. All this will also start affecting your confidence level in public and your ability to speak up on important matters or smile in pictures. Dental Implants Keep Your Facial Structure From Collapsing You are aware that everything in our face (and body) is interconnected to each other. Nothing works in solitude. Your missing teeth might seem like no big deal at first. But, as time passes and your face and jaw adjusts to the teeth loss, you will realize that everything in your mouth cavity affects your entire face. It doesn’t have to be a thing to fear. If you are worried about your jawline being affected by missing teeth, it’s relatively easy to fix, using our different dental implant procedures. They are by far the best option for restoring tooth loss. As opposed to dentures, dental implants actually stimulate bone growth and halt further jawbone loss. This kind of solution is exactly what you need in your fight against your sagging jawline and facial collapse. The more you stimulate bone growth in your jaw, the more likely it is that your face will stay in its original shape and form (rather than collapsing). Missing Teeth? Dental Implants From Gordon Dental Is the Best Option for It No one wants to deal with the aftermath of missing teeth, facial collapse, atrophy of the jaw bone, sagging jawline, and more. It seems like a painful and humiliating path to walk down. But it doesn’t have to be this way. If you are missing teeth, then dental implants from Gordon Dental can help you ease your symptoms through permanent tooth replacement. No need to worry about your jawbone atrophying due to bone loss. Dental implants prevent that from happening. If you would like to set up a consultation to discuss how we can help your dental implant needs, please contact us today!