What Causes Bone Loss?
Caring for your teeth, and the whole health of your mouth, can be a complicated and layered process. That is why it is so helpful to have modern dental professionals, whose scope of care is nearly all encompassing. Your dentist will be very familiar with the signs and symptoms of dental bone loss, and the underlying causes. For our purposes though, lets begin to understand what dental bone loss is, and what causes it.
Dental Bone Loss
Dental bones loss can have several root causes. In short, dental bone loss is a process, where the tissues which keep your teeth strong and in place begin to decay.
The mouth has lots of blood, tissue, and bone supporting it. When the tissue inside your bone, known as osteoblasts, receive stimulation from chewing they grow bone tissues. The tissues become strong and bond with other tissues, a process called osseointegration. In the absence of osteoblast stimulation, either from tooth loss or dental decay, another tissue called osteoclasts come into play. Osteoclasts take action to collect healthy or decayed tissues from support structures when they are not being used, in order to utilize them elsewhere. Think of osteoblasts and osteoclasts like construction workers; building and strengthening structures with resources and deconstructing them to use resources in other places.
What causes Dental Bone Loss?
Dental bone loss is usually caused by missing teeth. Missing teeth are usually caused by damage to the teeth, disease, or infection. If a tooth is missing, damaged, or aligned improperly, the osteoblasts do not receive stimulation, and the tissues begin to degrade. This is why replacing teeth, preferably in the root, can be so valuable to prevent bone loss.
What causes missing Teeth?
The root cause of missing teeth can often be traced directly back to improper hygiene. Without proper dental hygiene, you are much more likely to experience disease, infection, and tooth loss. Care for your teeth fastidiously with proper hygiene to avoid tooth loss, and thus avoid dental bone loss.
When to see a Dentist
These signs of Dental Bone loss are grounds to make an appointment immediately:
- Moving Teeth- When the structures keeping your teeth in place move, they will wiggle and become misaligned. Be sure to watch for spacing changes between teeth.
- Broken or Missing Teeth- Replace teeth as you lose them to avoid dental bone loss. The bone that supports each tooth will lose approximately a quarter of its composition within 1 year of removal.
- Persistent Bad Breath- Bad Breath happens, but if it does not go away ot is usually a sign of infection or dental decay.
- Pale Gums- As the tissues which supply blood to your mouth degrade, the gums will lose their color, or shrink revealing deeper tooth roots.
When you see your Dental Care Team
You will want to begin with a complete cleaning and examination. This is usually completely covered by dental insurance, especially if you have not been to an appointment this year already. You should ask for x rays, and consult with them on any changes in your dental health you have experienced. Have an honest talk with your team about the level of care you are giving to your teeth, and take their recommendations seriously.