What Causes Bone Loss

Periodontal disease can become quite a serious matter if it is not addressed when it begins. This can start with something simple as mild gum inflammation but can build up into something that essentially corrodes the bone under the gum line away over time if it’s not treated and addressed properly. The best way to address this is regular dental visits every 6 months as is required by the American Dental Association (ADA) for optimal oral health. This can be more often if you have special conditions or issues that need to be addressed as well. More importantly, advanced periodontal issues can cause sicknesses and illnesses can result from periodontal can make you physically sick by allowing various bacteria into your body that can cause illness. What Causes Bone Loss? Bone loss is the result of an untreated periodontal disease that has permeated the gums and gotten into the bone of the jaw’s structure. Bacteria from gingivitis penetrates the gums and gets into the bone structure. The bacteria wear away at the bone structure below the gum line and causes the bone to corrode away, which later can result in loosened teeth and sometimes in extreme cases loss of teeth entirely. As plaque fills those crevices it starts to become toxic to the bone structure surrounding it. Therefore, the bone begins to corrode away over time. How Do You Treat Bone Loss? Bone loss cannot be reversed but saving it from getting worse begins by addressing the periodontal disease the person is suffering from. Clearing up the infection is the first step. Your dentist will have to perform root planning and scaling to help get the plaque beneath the gum line cleaned out! There will likely be one of the following procedures ensuring:

• Pocket reduction where the size of the pocket under the gums is reset under your teeth
• Tooth removal and replacement for loose teeth
• Bone reshaping which includes smoothing bones to avoid dips in the bone where more plaque could collect in the future
• Bone regeneration using bone grafts or synthetic bone to fill in the areas that were created to fill in the portion of the bone lost

Will I Ever Have a Functional Smile Again? The healing process will take time and it may feel overwhelming to you at some points but bone can be regenerated or grafted through our team here at Ramona Dentistry of Chino is committed to working with you to help restore your smile and offer solutions to your specific situations such as dental implants or dentures. If you are seeking treatment for a periodontal disease you can always reach out to use here at Ramona Dentistry. It’s our pleasure to provide you complete and affordable services to help you restore the smile of your dreams! If you have any questions or would like to learn more about us visit us here or call us 909-465-1016. The Ramona Dentistry Team “Where Family Comes First”