There are times when an individual loses one or more teeth.  This may be because a tooth becomes too far gone to be repaired, and a Houston cosmetic dentist hast to extract it and replace it. 

People also experience unfortunate accidents that can result in tooth loss.

Regardless of what actually causes this to happen, once a tooth is lost, complications set in.  The gap between remaining teeth creates an indention in the gums and jawbone where the tooth once was. 

A Houston cosmetic dentist can correct in this defect with a procedure known as ridge augmentation.   This recaptures the natural contour of the gums and jaw bone.  A tooth replacement can then be made that is natural looking, easy-to-clean, and beautiful.

Many people ask what causes this indentation to occur in the first place.   It is the result of bone recession.  The body has a tendency to reabsorb bone that it determines is no longer useful. 

This determination is made based upon the amount of vibration that goes through the mass of the bone.  When the nerves and brain sense that the bone is constantly being subjected to use and pressure, the brain in turn signals for blood and nutrients to maintain its cellular structure. 

When there is no pressure on a bone, it does not experience these vibrations, and the brain determines that he bone is no longer needed.  It consequently begins to reabsorb the calcium and other minerals from the bone so the body can use them for other purposes.

Now, since teeth and jaw bones are intertwined, the roots that penetrate into the bone send vibrations into the jaw anytime the teeth are used.  This tells the brain and central nervous system that the bone is still dynamically vibrant.  However, when a tooth is lost, the vibrations cease, and the body begins to reabsorb the jaw bone into the body. 

This is what causes the indentation of the gum.  It is both unnatural looking and can cause permanent loss of bone mass.  When this occurs, it is a challenge to fit replacement teeth that do not look too long compared to the adjacent teeth. This is why a ridge augmentation will be necessary in many such cases.

The Houston cosmetic dentist has multiple options for performing a ridge augmentation.  He or she can do use autogenously extracted bone (bone taken from the patient), donor bone, or artificial bone.  All of such bone graft materials work, but autogenously extracted and donor bone works best.

If implants are not placed in the extracted site, fixed porcelain bridges will be used to replace the missing teeth.  Adjacent teeth are used as abutments to support the new bridge.

In order to fill the void in the gumline this procedure causes, a Houston cosmetic dentist does a will pump the tissue up.  In most instances, this tissue is very thin and covers the bone.  Once the dentist has increased the bone volume in the edentulous site, it will look like the tissue has filled in.