Missing teeth, explained
What happens under a gap
When a back tooth comes out, the gap looks the same from one month to the next. The bone underneath does not stay the same. Pick how long the tooth has been gone and watch what the drawings do.
How long has the tooth been gone?
From the side
Cut through the gap
6 months
Most of the shrinking happens in the first six months.
By six months, studies measured a loss of about a third to two-thirds of the ridge width, and a smaller drop in height.
Look at the lower drawing. The implant that fit easily at the start now sits close to the cheek-side edge of the bone.
Why the plan starts on a screen
None of this shows up in the mirror. The gum lies over the bone, so a narrow ridge and a full one can look the same from the outside.
A 3D X-ray shows the bone as it actually is: how wide, how tall, and where the nerve and the sinus sit. We place the implant on the screen first, in that model of your jaw, and only then decide if bone needs to be added.
When a case calls for it, the plan becomes a guide printed from your own anatomy, so the implant goes where it was planned. In studies, fully guided implants landed closer to their plan than freehand ones, about 0.7 mm off at the top instead of about 1.6 mm.
The Smile Reveal
See your own bone before you decide anything
Two free visits for implant cases too: the records, a digital scan, a preview, and a written plan. If an implant is on the table, that is where we look at the bone and tell you plainly what it needs.