Bone Grafting

Why is bone grafting done?

Over time when jawbone is missing teeth it begins to be resorbed (shrink). This tends to leave a condition resulting in less than ideal amounts of bone suitable for dental implants. When this occurs, most patients are not candidates for implant placement.

In many situations, today we have the ability to grow bone where it’s needed. This allows us the opportunity to place implants of proper length and width, while hopefully restoring functionality and aesthetic appearance.

Most bone grafting is done to restore your bone to its previous form following tooth loss, gum disease or trauma. Bone grafting is also used to maintain bone structure after a tooth is extracted.

Major Bone Grafting

When an implant site has inadequate bone structure because of previous extractions, gum disease or injury, bone grafting can help repair the site for a more successful implant. Bone grafting material can come from several places. Bone can be taken from a tissue bank (allograft), or your own bone (autograft) can be obtained from your jaw or hip.

When large jaw defects that may have resulted from traumatic injuries, tumor surgery or congenital defects are present they are generally repaired by using the patient’s own bone harvested from the hip or tibia and is done as an out patient surgery in the hospital.

Ridge Expansion

In other severe cases when the ridge is resorbed, a bone graft is used to increase the ridge height/width by expanding the bony ridge of the jaw by mechanical means to restore the lost bone dimension when conventional implants are not possible.