Men Over 40: How Do You Rebuild Your Lower Jawbone After Tooth Loss?
If you're over the age of 40 and experience bone loss in your lower jaw after losing molars, take steps to rebuild and replace it before you get dental implants. Bone loss in the lower jaw makes your face appear older over time, particularly in the skin and muscles covering your jaw, which eventually lose their elasticity and strength. Your jawline, chin and cheekbones also look less chiseled after you lose bone and teeth. Put a stop to the loss of bone in your lower jaw with bone augmentation and the three tips below.
How Does Bone Augmentation Help Your Lower Jaw Grow?
Most people experience the beginning signs of aging in their thirties and forties, such as wrinkling around the eyes and mouth. Some of the loss occurs from normal bone loss and density throughout your body. But within a year after you lose teeth in your lower jaw, up to 25 percent of the bone in your face and jaws absorbs back into your body.
You can surgically change or alter the condition and shape of the skin on your face with cosmetic surgery for men. However, even with cosmetic surgery, you can't replace the loss of bone in your lower jaw until you see a dentist for bone augmentation treatment.
A dentist uses bone augmentation to rebuild, strengthen and regenerate new bone tissue in your jaw before they place dental implants into your empty tooth sockets. The most common type of bone augmentation treatment is grafting, which requires a dentist to surgically place artificial or natural bone tissues over the bare bone of your lower jaw. After placement, the grafted tissues bond with the cells of your jaw until it appears thicker, higher and stronger.
Grafting occurs over a period of three months or more, depending on the severity of your bone loss. If your jawbone has significant loss, it takes longer to reach the thickness, height and strength your dental implants require to stay healthy and secure after placement. But if your jawbone shows signs of growth and healing right away, a dentist will go ahead and insert your dental implants.
The dental provider you choose for your grafting and dental implant placement will discuss the expected length of your treatment before they begin. Until you see your dentist for an evaluation of your lower jaw, you can do several things at home to rebuild and strengthen it.
Is There Anything You Can Do to Increase the Bone in Your Jaw?
One of the most important things to do is to increase the calcium, vitamin D, vitamin E and phosphorus in your body. Medical problems, such as male osteoporosis and andropause, decrease the amount of bone-building minerals in your body, especially after tooth loss.
Andropause typically starts in your 50s but can begin earlier in life if you have osteoporosis, which is the loss of bone tissue and density in the body. By eating low-fat plain yogurt, cottage cheese and other foods that contain calcium, vitamin D and phosphorus, you reduce the symptoms of bone loss associated with male menopause and osteoporosis.
For example, if you experience popping in your jaw every time you eat or open your mouth because of weakened bone tissue, calcium will strengthen your jaw and the muscles that support it. Poor muscle development leads to sagging and wrinkling in the skin over your popping jaw. The stronger your lower jaw is, the less it'll pop and sag over time.
Also, strive to drink at least three avocado nutritional shakes a week. Avocado contains a host of bone-building nutrients, including vitamin E, that fight the signs of aging and promote healing in the cells of your body. Vitamin E benefits you before and after your bone grafting and dental implant treatments, because it reduces your healing times for the treatments.
If you want to receive these benefits above, try the recipe below:
- Cut 2 ripe avocados into small pieces
- Place 1 1/2 cups of fat free milk into a blender, then add your avocado pieces
- Add 3 teaspoons of vanilla-flavored yogurt to the blender
- Mix the contents of the blender together until smooth and creamy
- Add 1 teaspoon of honey to the blender, then mix for 15 seconds more
- Fill a 16-ounce glass with the mixture and enjoy
You can also add strawberries, blueberries and other fruit to the shakes each day. You should notice positive changes in the condition of your skin and how well your lower jaw feels after a week or so of drinking the shakes.
If you need additional help with building your lower jawbone before implant surgery, contact a dentist like Davis R Troup DDS PA for assistance.
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