Thursday, April 12, 2018

Vertical Dimension Loss

Teeth serve many functions, one of the most underappreciated of which is supplying the face with vertical dimension. Put simply, this means that without teeth, the face shortens, resulting in all sorts of problems. At Southern Cross Dental in Colorado Springs, our doctors are experienced providers of dental prosthetics and are determined to help patients avoid the horrors of bite collapse.


When teeth are removed, the jaw bone tissue that surrounded their tooth roots recedes. As a result, the face looks shrunken, with the skin between the nose and lip becoming wrinkled and the mouth looking too small for the chin. Besides this aged appearance, patients also develop pain in their jaws which can radiate to their heads and shoulders. The loss of teeth also impacts the function of the remaining ones, since the front teeth are not held in place as firmly as the molars and are unable to take on the pressures of chewing.


If a patient still has some teeth, our dentists can use them to estimate how large to make the replacements. In cases of full-mouth restorations, our dentists will fabricate dentures using the latest software to determine a good fit. As part of the restoration process, patients will wear temporary crowns, which will give us a better idea of whether their new teeth are the right size to restore the shape of their faces.


Drs. Navid and Faranak Rahimpour operate Southern Cross Dental at 1855 S Nevada Ave, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80905-2516. To schedule an appointment, call 719-471-1717 or visit Southern Cross Family Dentistry and fill out a contact sheet.


 

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