If you notice a significant change in the way your jawline looks after losing several teeth, strengthen your jaw bone now. Tooth loss can change the underlying structures in your face and jaw over time. If you don't address the loss of bone tissue in your jaw now, it could affect the overall integrity of your face later. The options below can improve, strengthen, and reinforce your jawline before it's too late. 

How Does Bone Loss Change Your Face and Jawline?

The lower half of your jaw, or mandible, is the strongest, largest, and most important bone in your face. The mandible not only opens and closes your mouth, but it also supports your cheekbones, temporal bones, and necks. Although fractures and dislocations can cause many issues with the mandible, tooth loss can also affect the jawbone. 

The lower jaw should contain 16 strong teeth by the time you reach adulthood. Each tooth keeps the jaw healthy by stimulating it. The stimulation encourages the mandible to grow new bone cells throughout your lifetime. However, tooth loss changes the natural growth of your jawbone. With the stimulation of teeth, the bone tissue in your jaw stops regenerating. 

The loss of bone tissue in your mandible can have detrimental effects on your face, including in the area near your jawline. The jawline makes up the body of the mandible. If this area becomes weak from bone loss, it can gradually appear thinner and less pronounced. Your chin may recede, or grow small and thin. 

The loss of structure in your jawline and other facial features can be alarming. However, you can put a stop to the loss by taking action now.

How Do You Improve Jaw and Overall Facial Profile?

Although you may not recover all of the tissue you lost in your jaw, you can improve it by eating more calcium and vitamin D each day. Phosphorus and vitamin K are also good minerals you can eat or take to strengthen and reinforce your jaw.

Also, speak to a dental provider about replacing the teeth you lost. A dentist may have several replacement options for you, including dental implants and denture-based implants. Implants not only fill in lost back and front teeth, but they also stimulate the tissue inside your jawbone to regenerate. Along with consuming the minerals and vitamins above, dental implants can help rebuild your jawline and overall facial profile.

Don't wait until your jawline recedes too much before you replace your missing teeth. Contact a dentist for more details about implants and other replacement options today.