If you are contemplating full extractions as a solution to ongoing dental issues, review this information. Full extraction does not mean an end to your dental troubles.
What is facial collapse?
The picture to the right depicts a woman suffering from facial collapse, a condition that developes over time after all of a person’s teeth have been extracted. As you can see, the woman’s face almost seems to be folding in on itself. This is happening because the bones of her jaws have shrunk.
Most people do not realize that when you lose a tooth, the bone at the site of the lost tooth begins almost immediately to be reabsorbed into the body. Over time, the jaws can shrink to the point where wearing any kind of denture is impossible.
What happens when you can’t wear dentures anymore? Well, ideally, you would get dental implants, which would restore your ability to eat and communicate normally. However, if your jaw bones have deteriorated to the point that you cannot wear dentures, you would likely have to have bone grafting before dental implants would be a viable option. This extra procedure adds to the time, expense, healing time and risk associated with the dental implant procedure.
The diagram on the right shows the progression of bone loss, in this case in the lower jaw. As bone loss progresses, the position of the tongue and cheek attachments in the mouth approach the crest of the bone. This leaves very little viable surface for a denture to rest on, making the lower denture even more unstable.
Denture wearing may in fact increase the rate of jaw bone deterioration, because of the pressure placed upon the jaw by the denture.
The root forms of dental implants halt the deterioration of the jaw bones. Even the mini implants halt bone loss. If you have lost some or all of your teeth, talk to Dr. Perry about what you can do to avoid facial collapse.