3 Dental Treatments For A Missing First Molar With Weak Jawbone Density
Posted on: 16 December 2016
The loss of a first molar tooth can create chewing difficulties and the position of the tooth is close enough to the front of your mouth that you could also incur some cosmetic setbacks. There are a few common dental replacement options for a missing first molar. But those options shift slightly if you also have weak jawbone density in the area.
What are some of the dental treatments for a missing first molar with weak jawbone density? Here are some options to discuss with your cosmetic dentistry professional.
Dental Bridge
The solid tooth part of an artificial tooth is called an abutment. A dental bridge has the abutment suspended between two hollow dental crowns. Your dentist will cement the crowns onto the natural existing teeth on either side of the missing tooth. The positioning allows the abutment to sit in the hole while the crowns offer flanking support and stability.
If you lack a natural tooth on one side of the missing tooth, your dentist can affix the crowns to two teeth on the same side. The end result won't have the same level of stability but the difference shouldn't be noticeable to you.
Dental Implant with Bone Graft
A dental implant offers stability and a natural look but isn't possible with weakened jawbone. That's because the abutment has to snap down onto a metal root that was inserted into the jawbone then allowed to heal until the bone fully surrounds the root. If you don't have enough healthy jawbone to surround the root, the abutment will fail.
You can still potentially receive a dental implant if you can undergo a bone graft. The graft procedure requires the dentist to cut bone out of a healthier area of your body to splice into the weak area. If you don't have any healthy bone, an outside donor source or artificial bone can be used.
The bone graft will require healing time so that the donor bone fuses with the weakened bone. The graft procedure can add even more treatment time to the already long treatment process.
Partial Implant Dentures
Willing to undergo a bone graft for an implant but have several missing teeth in the same area of your mouth? You might qualify for partial implant dentures. The denture plate features abutments in all the areas you need them with holes to accommodate the natural teeth in between the holes. The plate hooks down into a couple of dental implant roots for the ultimate stability.
Contact a clinic like Gordon Dental to learn more.
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