Chewing, biting and gnawing: jawbone-building super workouts
When you chew, your teeth put pressure on your jawbone, which helps keep it strong and healthy.
Losing a tooth leaves behind an empty socket in your jaw and a section of bone that doesn't get a work out anymore. Left alone, your jaw will slowly weaken and dissolve away. When that happens, the sockets holding the teeth beside the gap weaken. Pretty soon, you're missing three teeth!
Bone restoration preserves your jaw when you lose a tooth
During bone restoration, your oral surgeon fills the empty socket with bone grafting material. Your jaw naturally grows into the material, creating solid, healthy new bone where the empty socket was.
An implant makes bone restoration permanent
Once the new bone is strong enough, it's ready to support an implant and a new cap that will bite and chew just like a real tooth — and give your jawbone the work out it needs to stay strong for the rest of your life.