Your jaw may seem like a solid part of your skull, but it is possible to lose bone mass in your jaw due to a number of circumstances. Losing bone mass is bad not only because it's not normal (it might be common, but that doesn't make it normal), but it can also have side effects that make it difficult for you to function normally. Your jaw could become fragile, making it harder to eat, and your cheeks could sink in. But you can take steps to stop bone loss in your jaw before it reaches problem levels.
Treat Bruxism
The constant grinding and clenching of teeth that is bruxism can wear down your teeth and create conditions for bone loss in your jaw. Bruxism can have any number of causes, but stress and temporomandibular joint syndrome are two very common causes. If you treat those, though, you can slow or halt any bone loss that is currently happening and prevent future loss. Note that treatment can take time, so you need to start now to get the best effect.
Get Your Vitamins and Minerals
The calcium and vitamin D that are so helpful to your bones in general will also benefit your jaw bone by making your teeth stronger. If your teeth are stronger, there is less risk of them rotting and falling out, leaving gaps that can gradually lead to more bone loss. So getting these two vitamins and minerals is very beneficial. You can take a supplement if you have to, but it's much more tasty to eat cheese. Or, look for fortified foods like milk and orange juice.
Get Implants
Your teeth prevent jaw bone loss because, as you chew, you place stress on the bone. Your body continually tries to shore up the bone by building up the bone a little. But if there's no stress -- maybe you lost your teeth and can't chew properly on one side of your jaw, for example -- the bone-building process stops, and your body starts to reabsorb some of that bone. To stop that, you need to get dental implants so that you can chew and place stress on the jaw as you normally would.
If you think you're dealing with bone loss and want to look at options, or if you are currently missing teeth and want to ask about implants, contact your dentist. Don't wait because it's easy to keep putting off an appointment, and you don't want to get to the point where there's not enough stable bone to support implants.
Share26 September 2016
Having a daughter comes with a number of challenges. One challenge that you will one day need to tackle is determining when to introduce your daughter to the gynecologist. Do you take your daughter to the same gynecologist that you see or take her somewhere else? Do you wait until she gets her first period or do you take her in to learn about the menstrual cycle from the doctor? There is a long list of questions you likely have about introducing your daughter to the world of gynecology. Having gone through this twice myself, I have learned quite a bit and have included a lot of helpful information in my site to help other parents get through this complicated time a little easier.
