Tips for Good Jaw Health

Taking care of oral health is more than just good dental care at home. It also including practicing good, consistent hygiene habits and making wise choices daily to protect the longevity of the jaw. Although brushing and flossing is one of the best ways to protect the smile, our oral surgeon in Northern Virginia has some tips that can improve oral health all the way down to the bone.

Good Habits Enforce a Healthy Smile

The jaw is a sensitive machine, and it’s important to practice good habits to reverse the effects of normal wear and tear as well as combat the effects of negative habits. Here are some good habits to follow for improved jaw health:

Eat and Drink Healthy: Drinking water as opposed to sodas, coffee, or alcoholic beverages will leave the mouth cleaner. Sugary and alcoholic beverages encourages bacteria to grow in the teeth and gums. If left alone, this bacteria will decay the teeth and jaw. Eating healthy foods will also contribute to the cleanliness of the teeth and jaws, strengthening the jaw muscles to do exactly what they’re supposed to. Chewing gum is not recommended, as it puts undue stress on the jaw muscles.

Besides eating and drinking, it’s important to protect the jaw from other potential diseases. The chances of developing oral cancer when smoking or chewing tobacco are significantly higher, and cutting down on these habits will reduce inflammation and gum disease in the mouth. Nicotine and alcohol have adverse effects on the mouth, and research has even found that e-cigarettes and vaping aren’t good for the mouth either.

Relax Facial Muscles with Treatment: Many Americans suffer from TMD, where the jaw muscles are tight and do not function properly. This is often due to bruxism, or teeth grinding. This can happen unconsciously at night, or during the day. Bruxing at night wears down teeth, leading to fractures and cracks that can have long-term effects on the smile. The grinding motion also makes the muscles tight from the jaw to the neck.

Treatments for bruxism include oral appliances like night guards, which will protect the teeth from breaking and force the jaws to relax at night time. These are also important for sports and activities where the jaws and teeth can get damaged. Many oral surgeons prescribe the mouth guards and have them custom-fit to each patient’s mouth.

Call Lorton, Springfield Oral Surgeons for Great Jaw Health

Call one of our offices today to receive an examination for your smile. If you are experiencing tight jaw muscles, or your mouth feels uncomfortable, please contact us today. 

What is Osseointegration?

Compared to traditional restorations, dental implants offer a lifelong solution for replacing any number of missing teeth. Valued as a highly versatile restorative option, much of the long-term success associated with dental implants derives from how this treatment interacts with other parts of patients’ smiles.

The Problem with Traditional Restorations
Natural teeth roots serve as stimulation for the jaw bone, ensuring stable dental function. When a tooth is lost, the bone also loses its necessary point of stimulation. While conventional restoration options such as bridges, partials, and dentures may be effective for temporarily treating tooth loss, these prosthetics sit above the gum line and do not interact with the jaw bone. Over time, the lack of jaw bone stimulation caused by general tooth loss and compounded by the restoration can cause bone deterioration. Known as resorption, this subsequent bone loss weakens the overall strength of the dentition and can trigger additional tooth loss.

Creating an Implant Support System
During implant placement, a titanium screw is placed directly into the jaw bone, mimicking the stimulation provided by the natural tooth. As a result, the bone begins to form around the implant, effectively incorporating the substitute root. Known as the process of osseointegration, this naturally-occurring process is directly tied to the success of the implant as a whole for several reasons:

• Prevents Resorption: Dental implants are designed to interact with the bone just like natural teeth do. By using an implant, rather than a bridge to replace a missing tooth, the bone can be comprehensively stimulated, thus preventing resorption and additional tooth loss.
• Stabilizes Future Restorations: Whether you’re receiving a single crown or using several implants to support a full-arch restoration, successful osseointegration prevents the need for total implant replacement in the future. Additionally, osseointegration helps to preserve dental function, allowing patients to enjoy lifelike teeth replacement. 
• Preserve Facial Structure: Bone resorption can also trigger changes in facial structure, leading to the premature aging and facial collapse. By stimulating osseointegration with dental implants, patients are able to preserve facial aesthetics. 

At Lorton-Springfield Dental Implants & Oral Surgery, our team is dedicated to helping patients achieve and maintain their smiles through dental implants and implant-supported dentures. For more information about this service, contact our Northern Virginia oral surgeon today.

Preventive Dental Care: Jaw Health

While often overlooked, the jaw is a critical part of the smile. From supporting the teeth to facilitating all oral function, the upper and lower jaw play an important role in maintaining a smile’s health and function. If compromised, patients can quickly find their standard of life diminished and may require extensive treatments in order to restore health and strength to the bone. With this in mind, being aware of the conditions that can compromise the health of your jaw and knowing how to protect bone health from the future bone issues can ensure uninterrupted oral function.

Common Dental-Related Causes of Jaw Bone Deterioration:

Periodontal Disease: If left untreated, the bacteria that cause gum disease are able to travel below the gum line and begin attacking the underlying jaw bone structure. As bone strength weakens, the stability of the dentition also becomes diminished, leading to potential tooth loss.

To reinforce the strength of the bone, patients may require bone grafting. During this oral surgery procedure, donor bone tissue is added to the weakened area. Over the course of recovery, this donor tissue begins to integrate with the natural bone, resulting in strengthened bone and improved dental stability.

Non-Implant Restorations: Similar to how bone loss can cause tooth loss, tooth loss can trigger bone deterioration. Teeth roots act like anchors for the bone, providing growth stimulation for the bone. Once a tooth is loss, the bone surrounding the lost tooth begins to deteriorate as a result of the loss of stimulation. This process of resorption is particularly common for patients with tradition, non-implant restorations such as bridges, partials, and full dentures.

To help prevent these issues from compromising jaw health and strength, consider opting for permanent dental implants or implant-supported restorations. In Lorton and Springfield, Dr. Snehal Patel and his team offer comprehensive implant options and work closely with patients to develop the right implant solution for their smile.

Misalignment: In addition to impacting the ability to bite properly, tooth misalignment can have a domino-like impact on the jaw, leading to bruxism and accelerated teeth damage. In cases of severe malocclusion, misalignment can trigger problems for the temporomandibular joint, or TMJ. If left unaddressed, patients can find themselves suffering from serious difficulties in performing basic oral functions, such as chewing, swallowing, and breathing.

Treating misalignment is a multi-faceted process that can include orthodontics, retainers, and surgical processes in order to correct the position of teeth and jaw. At Lorton-Springfield Dental Implants & OralSurgery, our team works closely with local dental specialists to develop a comprehensive treatment solution for patients suffering from malocclusion.

Teeth Abscesses: Abscesses are the consequence of untreated tooth infections. Caused when bacteria enter the inner pulp chamber, failure to treat this condition provide bacteria with the opportunity to travel to the base of the root and begin creating a cyst in the jaw bone. As the abscess grows, the bone is further damaged. Treatment for this condition requires that the cyst be removed and the bone be sterilized, with any infected tissue removed. To reinforce the bone following treatment, available treatments include bone grafting and ridge modification or augmentation.

Protect Your Jaw Health Today

A healthy jaw bone is the foundation of a healthy smile. At our Lorton and Springfield specialty oral surgery practices, Dr. Patel can help you maintain a healthy smile through specialized bone treatments. Contact our team today.