If your jaw seems to be slowly disappearing, you may not be imagining it. A discount dental plan may help with treatments to prevent or restore this structural issue. Facial collapse is a condition where the body begins dissolving the jaw bones to use the minerals elsewhere in the body after all of a person’s teeth have been extracted.
How Facial Collapse Happens
Facial collapse occurs when the jaw no longer supports any teeth. It takes approximately 10-20 years for any serious changes, but it begins when the body sees no need for a jaw after the teeth are gone. Those experiencing this problem may appear to have a shriveled face. Sometimes the distance from the chin to the mouth shrinks, and sometimes the distance from the nose to the mouth shrinks. The lips may pucker as the jaws rest closer together. Preparation with a discount plan and an experienced dentist may help prevent severe cases.
This causes problems with dentures, because many people who have lost their teeth wear prosthetic teeth. Dentures can be a good plan for discount teeth if implants are too expensive. As the jaw shrinks, however, conventional dentures may become difficult and painful to wear because of the lack of a stable surface. The false teeth may move around with the tongue and cheeks since there is not much of a ridge on which it should rest. The deteriorating jaw must bear the full pressure of the denture, often making it very sore.
Can it Be Treated?
Your face doesn’t have to remain collapsed. Several treatments can help halt or reverse the effects of jaw shrinkage.
- Bone grafting takes small pieces of bone from your hip and attaches them to your jaw. Artificial bone products may also be used. The surgeon may be able to fill the space and build up the lost bone.
- Denture or implant hybrid restoration aims to replace missing bone and tissue with restorative materials often used for other oral procedures. This could help fill out the shrunken space and increase the jaw depth.
- Tooth implants can be precisely placed in the jawbone to provide teeth but also to stimulate the jaw. If the body knows the jaws are actually supporting teeth, it may not disintegrate the minerals as rapidly, if at all.
A discount plan may help make dentist visits and procedures more financially manageable. The issue can be complicated, and it may take extensive work. The body will not replace the bone on its own, but the problem can be stopped and even artificially reversed with the help of a skilled oral health professional. A discount dental plan could be the first step toward reviving your bone structure and relieving the pain of shifting dentures.
