21 Apr What Causes Bone Loss in the Jaw?
Bone loss in the jaw can significantly impact your dental health. It can cause tooth loss, implant failure, changes to the shape of your face, and more. Recognizing the symptoms of jaw bone loss, such as shifting or loose teeth, facial pain, and discomfort while eating, is crucial for early intervention. Common causes include missing teeth, advanced cases of gum disease, and conditions like osteoporosis. Understanding the causes and symptoms can help you take steps to preserve your oral health and prevent further damage. We will go over what causes bone loss in the jaw and explain how the above conditions affect our mouths.
Three Causes of Bone Loss in the Jaw
1: Missing Teeth
People have missing teeth for a few reasons. Whether from an accident or injury, from aging, or because an infected tooth had to be extracted, replacing a missing tooth is very important. When there’s a gap, the neighboring teeth will start to shift, and the strain on them will be greater.
Because the roots of your teeth stimulate the jawbone with regular chewing, missing teeth can lead to bone loss in the jaw. When a tooth is gone, so is the stimulation, causing the bone in that area to lose density over time. Without the pressure exerted by the tooth root, the body begins to resorb (or break down) the bone, as it no longer considers it necessary.
2: Gum Disease
When gingivitis goes untreated, the gum tissue begins to deteriorate and pull away from the teeth. This separation creates pockets where bacteria can collect and can lead to infections of the tooth root or jaw bone.
When gum disease progresses, it turns into a chronic infection called periodontitis. As the infection worsens, it also affects the underlying bone structure, causing the bone that supports the teeth to deteriorate. It’s vital to treat gum disease while it’s still in its early stages, because advanced periodontitis can cause tooth loss as well as bone loss.
3: Osteoporosis
This metabolic disease is characterized by reduced bone mass, and it can affect any bones in your body. In the case of your jaw, osteoporosis can weaken the bones that support your teeth, leading to tooth loss and changes to the shape of your face.
Bone loss from osteoporosis could also mean that your jaw is unable to support dental implants. If you need to replace any missing teeth with dental implants, bone grafting may be necessary first. This minor surgery has excellent success rates, but it won’t work for everyone.
Symptoms of Bone Loss in the Jaw
If you’re experiencing any type of dental pain, you need to seek urgent treatment to solve the problem. And when it’s related to bone loss, it’s definitely important to get the issue sorted in a timely manner.
Here are some common symptoms of bone loss in the jaw:
- Improper bite → feels like your teeth don’t fit together or like your bite is unbalanced.
- Uncomfortable while eating → pain or a feeling of discomfort when chewing.
- Shifting or loose teeth → feels like your teeth are loose in their sockets or like they’re moving around as you chew.
- Facial pain or headaches → feels like constant pressure, tension, or even throbbing pain in your face, jaw, or head. Some report a feeling of achiness when pressing on the side of the face.
How to Prevent Bone Loss
If you have osteoporosis, speak with your doctor about therapies you can use to prevent bone loss. They may suggest treatments like medications, hormonal modulation, vitamin supplementation, or molecular targeted therapy. They might also suggest making a few changes to your diet, to include more calcium and minerals like zinc.
When it comes to changes you can make at home, you should practice good oral hygiene, avoid tobacco products, and seek treatment for gum disease if present. Regular weight-bearing exercise is also recommended, because it can help strengthen your bones. This can be dancing, jogging, climbing stairs, playing pickleball or another racketball sport.
Urgent Dental Care and Gum Disease Treatment in Sun Lakes
If you live in the Sun Lakes area and you suspect you’re suffering from jaw bone loss, don’t wait until it’s too late! Schedule an appointment today at Saba & Chiappetti Dental Associates. We specialize in dental care for seniors, and we can address many issues like missing teeth, bone loss, dental pain, infected gums, cracked teeth, and more. Give us a call to set up your appointment—we’ll make sure you have a healthy smile for years to come.
Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (03.31.2025). Photo by bennett tobias on Unsplash. Right side and top of photo was cropped.