Losing our teeth leaves behind embarrassing gaps in your smile. But did you know this could weaken your jaw too? To ensure your smile can support dental implants, we may need to strengthen your smile! In today’s blog, your Encinitas/San Diego, CA, periodontist talks about laser-assisted jawbone grafting.
The Loss of Your Teeth and the Complications
When people don’t seek care from our team for periodontal disease, the issue could reach an advanced stage known as periodontitis. At this stage, the tissues that connect the teeth and gums become severed, which can lead to missing teeth. In fact, this is the most common cause of adult tooth loss. When this happens, the body will respond by stopping the flow of calcium and phosphorus to the jaw, so the area weakens. This could lead to further tooth loss and an older appearance. This also means you may not have enough jawbone structure to support one or more dental implants. But we can help with a laser-assisted jawbone grafting procedure!
The Jawbone Grafting Procedure
Our team will use advanced dental lasers to make any necessary adjustments to your gum and bone structures. Our team will then strengthen the area with grafting, adding new structures to fortify it so your smile can support a dental implant, or possibly more than one. The grafting material could be synthetic or donor tissue. In some cases, we could take this from other parts of your body, such as the rear of your jaw, your hip, or from your knee bone. Once the area heals, we can then move forward with dental implant placement!
Placing Dental Implants
Dental implants are small titanium posts that are biocompatible, able to bond with the jawbone and act like a new root. This also helps keep the jaw intact, so you maintain your youthful facial features and your new teeth have the potential to last for decades to come, possibly a lifetime. We then complete your new teeth by attaching a crown to the post. If you have several missing teeth, then multiple implant posts could be used to support a bridge or even a set of dentures.
If you have lost teeth and your jaw has weakened as a result, we can strengthen it with jawbone grafting and advanced dental lasers. Our team can also replace missing teeth with one or more of our dental implants. If you have any questions about the process, or if you would like to schedule a consultation, then reach out to our office today!
Schedule Your Appointment for Ridge Augmentation
Our team is ready to strengthen your lower jaw and prepare your smile for tooth replacement. To learn more about treatment with laser dentistry, call Dr. Ann Kania in Encinitas, CA, today at 760-642-0711.