Bone Grafting
Rebuild and Restore Lost Bone
Missing teeth, gum disease, injuries, and other factors can all contribute to jaw bone loss. Without stimulation from the roots of your teeth, the bone in the dental ridge will begin to deteriorate. There must be adequate bone in the jaw to support the full length and width of the implants. Bone grafting can replace bone that has been lost due to tooth loss, facial surgery sites, facial trauma, or other causes. By regrowing lost bone, bone grafts help more people become candidates for dental implants.
How Bone Grafting Works
During a bone grafting procedure, your periodontist will lift the gums and place a mixture of bone material and growth factors over the area that requires more bone growth. The bone material consists of tiny granules that are taken from either your own bone or a tissue bank. Once the material is applied, your periodontist will suture the gums to protect the area.
Bone grafts provide many benefits, including:
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People who were once told they cannot receive dental implants due to insufficient bone can now become candidates
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Prevent long-term health problems associated with tooth loss
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Greatly improve the aesthetics of restorative treatments, such as dental implants or crowns
Types of Bone Grafting
The type of bone grafting you need largely depends on the shape of your jaw and your overall goals for treatment. When designing your custom treatment plan, we use 3D scans to view the structure of your jaw bone. Prior to any surgical procedure, we will discuss your options for anesthesia or sedation. Some of the most common bone grafting procedures include:
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Sinus Lift
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Everyone has sinuses above their upper teeth on either side of their nose. These sinuses are hollow, and the wall that separates the sinuses from the roots of the upper molars is very thin. When the upper molars need to be replaced with dental implants, sometimes it is impossible to do so without breaching the sinus or causing other problems. Periodontists can place a bone graft between the sinus and the molars, making space for a dental implant to be placed.
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Ridge Expansion
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When severe bone resorption has occurred, the bony ridge that once held the teeth can become too small to hold dental implants. Your periodontist can divide the ridge bone and insert bone grafting material inside. This expands the ridge and makes space for the eventual placement of implants.
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Socket Preservation
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When a tooth is extracted, the bone around the empty tooth socket can start to resorb or diminish rapidly. A socket preservation prevents the bone loss that tends to happen shortly after an extraction so that an implant can be planned for a future visit. This is ideal if you are having a tooth extracted but do not plan to immediately replace it with a dental implant.
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Major Bone Grafting
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Sometimes facial injuries, tumor surgery sites, or birth conditions require bone grafting to restore the facial structure. In these situations, periodontists use bone sourced from another part of the patient’s body. Special membranes may be used to help the major bone graft site heal correctly and promote soft tissue regeneration.