When you need to replace a missing or extracted tooth, a dental implant can transform your smile. These incredible restorations look and function like a regular tooth, but they also require an adequate amount of jawbone for successful implantation. Fortunately, bone augmentation procedures like bone grafting can help restore the density and volume of your jawbone.
Before and After picture
Learn more about dental bone grafts and how they can increase the viability of your dental implant.
What is a Bone Augmentation?
Bone augmentation, also referred to as bone grafting, is a procedure typically needed when the current bone mass of your jaw is not suitable to successfully incorporate dental implants. Luckily, in this day and age, our doctors are able to grow bone where it is needed.
When bone mass is too thin or soft to keep an implant in place, a bone augmentation will help so the bone can fuse to the dental implant and keep it secure. If a dental implant is placed in the jaw where bone structure is not sufficient, the likelihood of an implant failing increases
BEFORE: Bone Augmentation
When a tooth is missing, loss of bone may occur at the site of that tooth, enabling surrounding teeth to shift.
DURING: Bone Augmentation
Fortunately, when bone loss occurs, our doctors are able to pack the site with bone particulates.
AFTER: Bone Augmentation
The particulates will heal into the existing bone to create adequate bone density for a dental implant.
Top 5 reasons for bone loss?
If you are considering dental implants, you must have healthy gums and adequate bone to support the implant. If your bone is too thin or soft, you may require a bone graft. A bone graft is a technique that helps rebuild bone by transplanting healthy bone tissue.
Here are five reasons you may need bone grafting before a dental implant procedure.
If your adult tooth has been extracted or is missing, the bone around your tooth can start to disappear. Once that bone mass is gone, it cannot be restored. Bone grafting can help strengthen the area where the tooth is missing and provide support for a future implant.
If you have gum disease, this may cause the jawbone to recede and teeth to loosen. This happens because bacteria slowly eats at the jawbone and leads to periodontal misalignment. After undergoing gum disease treatment, bone grafting can help restore the foundation and strengthen your teeth.
If you have crooked teeth, it can be difficult to properly clean between them, leaving bacteria to grow, which leads to tooth decay and gum disease. If not treated, gum disease can progress to periodontitis, an infection that damages bone and teeth. Bone grafting will then be needed to restore the damaged jawbone.
Some birth defects are characterized by parts of missing teeth, facial bones, or jaw. A bone grafting can help restore function and growth where there isn’t any, and provide adequate support for an implant.
Tooth trauma, such as from teeth grinding or bruxism, can put extra pressure on the teeth and wear away at the surrounding tissue supporting the tooth structure. Bone grafting may be needed to reverse the effects of bone deterioration, restoring function and promoting new bone growth in traumatized areas.
What Are the Steps of a Dental Bone Graft Procedure?
Before your dental bone graft procedure, you will meet with a periodontist or oral surgeon to discuss the treatment plan and determine the bone grafting material to be used. Your bone grafting procedure will depend on the purpose of treatment, but you can usually expect these steps:
- Your dental professional will use a local anesthetic to numb the surgical site. You also might need IV sedation if they source the tissue from your own body or if you experience dental anxiety.
- . If you are using an autograph, the dental professional will start by sourcing the bone from the chosen location. Similarly, if you need a tooth removed, the surgeon will perform the tooth extraction at this time. Combining tooth extraction with bone grafting encourages faster healing.
- Next, the dental professional will thoroughly clean the area. If you do not have an extraction, the dental professional will make an incision in the gum tissue to expose the bone. Then, he or she will attach the bone graft material to the exposed bone.
- Once the graft material is in place, the area is sutured closed. The dental professional may use pins, plates, wires, cables, or even a titanium screw to hold the tissue together. If you source the bone from your body, the surgeon will also stitch that area together.
In most cases, you can plan to return home the same day as your procedure, but you might need a driver if you received sedation or general anesthesia. You will need four to six months — and sometimes longer — to completely heal and be ready for your dental implant. Your dental professional will provide instructions to care for the area, and you should follow these closely to prevent failure or complications.
Other Types of Dental Procedures to Support Bone Growth
Bone grafting is just one type of bone augmentation procedure, and others may be needed to build bone in your mouth and support dental implants. These other procedures include:
- This procedure raises the sinus floor to increase the bone’s height in your upper jaw above the premolar and molar teeth to support the placement of dental implants.
- This surgical procedure divides the jawbone into an inner and outer section to insert bone graft material, create new bone, and widen the jaw to support dental implants.
- This procedure makes a shorter bone into a longer bone by cutting it into two pieces, slowly pulling the two pieces apart and encouraging new bone to form and fill the space.
- This surgical procedure reduces bone loss after tooth extraction by placing a bone substitute in the socket and covering it with a barrier membrane directly after removal.
- Like dental bone grafts, most other bone augmentation procedures only sound like a complex or invasive procedure. In reality, your dental professional can quickly perform most surgeries needed to support bone growth and development. In four to six months, you can have the healthy bone structure required to support dental implant.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- Length of Procedure
Bone augmentation procedures typically take less than 30 minutes. You can expect to be in our office 1.5 to 2 hours which accounts for consultation, procedure and in-office recovery time.
- Before Your Appointment
your entire medical and dental history will be required and all the information about the medications your are taking. We may also ask for your physician’s consent & or modification of your medications if required.
After your procedure, you may notice some of the bone particulates working their way out of the socket. This may feel “gritty” in the mouth. This is completely normal and no cause for concern. In some cases, a membrane placed over the socket will come loose after a couple of weeks; this is also no cause for concern. We will remove the membrane as needed at your follow up appointment. As the bone augmentation site heals, you will come in for follow-up appointments with your oral surgeon every few weeks to ensure the bone is healing properly. Once completely healed, you will be scheduled for your dental implant to be placed.
- After your procedure, a nurse will take you to one of our state-of-the-art recovery rooms. Our rooms are equipped with high-tech monitoring to ensure your safety.
- We will inform your driver when you are in recovery and show them to your room to go over recovery instructions.
- Your nurse will stay to answer any other questions you may have before leaving our office and will send printed recovery instructions home with you for your convenience.
- When you get home, we recommend a lot of rest, icing and to begin taking your pain medication before existing numbness wears off.
- We will send you home with a recovery kit that includes extra gauze and gloves for bleeding.
- Slight to severe tingling of the lip, chin and tongue is normal and will be temporary.
- Take off work/school the day of your procedure, as well as the following day. You may want to take off more days depending on how you feel.
- After your procedure, enjoy a cup of gourmet ice cream on us!