William Arbuthnot Lane, M.S. (Cleft Palate and Hare Lip, Second Edition, 1908) wrote …

“If any of the permanent teeth are lost in young life, or do not erupt, or do so irregularly, the jaw fails to attain to its full size proportionally to the number of teeth absent. If the teeth are lost after the jaw is fully developed the alveoli [tooth sockets] waste and the bones along which force is distributed either as pressure or strain become progressively thinner; the rough, prominent surfaces to which the tendinous insertions of muscles are normally attached disappear.”