BONE AUGMENTATION (GRAFT)
Modern bone grafting is generally a painless, minimally invasive procedure completed in your periodontist's or oral surgeon's office. If the dental specialist decides to perform your bone augmentation at the same time as the tooth extraction, it helps you to heal faster. For patients with teeth missing for a length of time, however, the process begins with a local anesthetic to numb the area and an incision in the gum tissue is made to expose the bone. The surgeon then attaches the bone graft material to the exposed bone in the mouth, which contains collagen and proteins that encourage bone growth, and then the area is sutured to close the gum tissue.
As new bone grows, it replaces the graft material, which is absorbed completely. The new bone can take from a few weeks up to nine months to heal before dental implants can be placed, depending on the extent of the graft and the condition of the existing bone.
Patients with insufficient natural, healthy bone to support dental implants could be ideal candidates for bone augmentation, which is the process of rebuilding the bone. The goal is to provide a sound structure where implants can be placed and secured in the alveolar bone structure. The augmentation is most commonly done by a bone graft, which is placing bone graft material to the existing bone in your jaw, which then adheres to it to form new bone.
For dental implants to take hold successfully, your jaw needs to have healthy bone to support them and hold them securely into the jawbone. If you've previously experienced oral conditions, such as gum or periodontal disease, injury or trauma to your face and jaw, the quality of your bone may be compromised. Patients who have had teeth extracted and left the spaces empty or have worn dentures for many years could also find their bone density level insufficient to support dental implants.
A number of other surgeries can be completed to build bone in your mouth to support dental implants, which include the following:
Sinus lift or subantral graft procedure, which increases the height of the bone in your upper jaw above the premolar and molar teeth to support placement of dental implants.
Ridge expansion, a surgical procedure that is conducted to widen the upper jaw to support dental implants. The bone is divided and bone graft material is placed in the divided area to create new bone to widen the upper jaw.
Distraction osteogenesis, allows a shorter bone to be made into a longer bone. The bone is cut during surgery and a distractor pulls the two pieces of bone apart slowly and new bone forms to fill in the space.