Facial Collapse

Many people deal with losing teeth during their lifetime. But what you may not know is that your body senses that your jawbone is no longer needed to support the teeth. The bone will then be reabsorbed so the minerals can be used elsewhere. This means that over the course of ten to twenty years your jawbone shrinks, called facial collapse.

In the diagram to the right, you can see the effects of this process on your appearance. The distance between the nose and mouth, as well as the distance between the mouth and chin lessens. With the upper and lower jaws now closer together, the skin actually shrivels and the lips begin to pucker. An individual with facial collapse actually appears to look older than they truly are.

Patients that have collapse find it very uncomfortable to wear a denture. Stability is compromised since there is little bone left to support the denture. The denture will move around a lot and there will be increased soreness. Eventually, it may become intolerable to even wear a denture.

Dental implants are a great solution to prevent bone loss since they are actually drilled into the jawbone. This stimulates new bone growth around the implant to prevent this condition. If you are already suffering from facial collapse, Dr. Roper and Dr. McClaws may be able to help you with bone grafting which will build up your jawbone more. To learn more about your options, please visit the dental implants page.

Please call us at 928-782-3839 to learn more about your options when dealing with teeth loss.