Implanting a sturdy titanium post stimulates healthy bone growth following a tooth extraction or loss. Dental implants support your natural jaw structure for a natural-looking and functioning end result. Replacing missing teeth helps patients avoid further dental problems, such as facial sagging down the road.
Dental implants are a popular solution for your missing teeth. They offer 98% success and can prevent facial sagging. They are artificial tooth roots surgically put into your jawbone to support a replacement tooth. The implant fuses with the jawbone over time; this process is known as osseointegration.
If an upper tooth is removed, it may result in some parts of the face looking sunken in, and if a lower tooth is extracted, it may exaggerate an under-bite or result in asymmetry.
When you have a tooth extracted, all roots are removed. Because the roots of your teeth are an integral part of your facial structure, changes in your face shape are possible with tooth extraction. While it won't necessarily ruin your face, a change in face shape or structure may occur.
These molars grow in an area of the mouth referred to as the dental alveolus. This area is not directly attached to the basal jawbone. Therefore, when the teeth are removed, there is really no change to the shape of your jaws.
Wisdom Teeth Removal Doesn't Affect the Shape of Your Face
Unlike your other teeth, your wisdom teeth grow in a part of your jaw called the dental alveolus, not in the basal jawbone that determines the shape of your face.
Yes, there is hope for correcting facial collapse. Grafting procedures can build up the jawbone, and after a healing period, a prosthodontist can place dental implants to keep the jawbone intact. The bone grafts and a new custom denture will lift your facial muscles and help reshape your face.
Ever seen someone without their dentures? Facial collapse causes this on a smaller scale, evidenced by wrinkles in the corners of the mouth, loss of lip support, and overall shortening of the face to give an “aged” appearance.
The fact that dental extractions may cause a flat face 4 - 7 due to excessive incisor retraction has discouraged the orthodontists to adopt this treatment protocol. However, extractions can benefit the profile when properly indicated.
Treating Facial Collapse
Fortunately, oral surgery can restore jawbone stability and eliminate issues with eating. Dental implants are an effective solution. However, when little bone is left, precision placement — using advanced imaging technology and virtual software to guide the procedure — is essential.
The Progression of Facial Collapse
When your teeth are missing, your body begins to resorb the bone that was used to support those teeth. Over the course of about 10-20 years the jawbone shrinks significantly. This condition is known as facial collapse.
Dental implants can prevent the jaw from shrinking and collapsing. They cannot restore lost mass. However, bone grafting procedures, which are often necessary to improve dental implant candidacy, can restore the jaw to its proper shape and size, thereby giving a lift to the areas impacted by tooth loss.
Missing teeth often contribute to the appearance of sunken cheeks or jowls. When one or more teeth are missing it can lead to bone loss at the site of the gap. Normally, teeth are anchored to the jaw bone by sockets. However, if those sockets remain empty, that means there are large, empty spaces in the jaw.
Dentures cannot prevent facial collapse because they only replace the visible portion of the tooth. Dental implants, however, are titanium root forms that are surgically placed into the jaw.
Facial nerve palsy is a rare but described the complication of inferior alveolar nerve block anaesthesia. The exact incidence is unknown. Literature suggests most cases have an immediate palsy with quick recovery usually resolving within 7 hours.
In some severe cases, your dental professional may recommend orthognathic surgery of your jaw. This procedure involves adjusting or repositioning your upper or lower jaw and is often used in combination with orthodontic correction like braces.
Enamel can repair itself by using minerals from saliva, and fluoride from toothpaste or other sources. But if the tooth decay process continues, more minerals are lost. Over time, the enamel is weakened and destroyed, forming a cavity. A cavity is permanent damage that a dentist has to repair with a filling.
Why Is My Face So Sunken? As we get older, collagen, elastin, and even facial fat pads break down, resulting in some changes that can cause the appearance of a sunken face. The effect is even more pronounced when the fat pads begin to drift south, which can exacerbate sunken cheeks and undereye hollows.
Facial collapse is what happens when you lose teeth. The more teeth that are missing without proper replacement, the more the jawbone recedes. Jawbone recession decreases the support that the cheeks and lips receive, resulting in a sunken appearance in which the chin looks more pronounced or pointy.
Many patients who lose one or more back teeth think they don't need to replace them because they can't be seen, but replacing any missing tooth is essential to keep your smile whole and healthy. Dental implants, fixed bridges, and dentures are all tooth replacement options to repair your smile following tooth loss.
That exposes the underlying bone and nerves and results in severe pain. More serious risks, which become more common with age, include nerve and blood-vessel damage. As with any surgery, wisdom-tooth removal does carry the very rare risk of death.
Compared with those with all of their teeth, the group with no teeth had a 27 percent increased risk of major heart problems, 85 percent increased risk of death due to heart condition, 81 percent increased risk of all-cause death and 67 percent increased risk of stroke.