With the advanced techniques and practices, we have the ability to replace missing teeth, often at the time of removal. In other cases, with the addition of bone grafting, implants can be placed to support teeth in locations that were impossible just a few years ago. We can now reconstruct the facial features of that patient whose facial bones did not develop enough or developed too much. We can reconstruct what the unfortunate trauma of a car or sporting accident took away. And we can perform wisdom teeth extractions and other oral surgeries with comfortable and safe general anesthesia and sedation.
In areas with missing teeth, the jawbone can decline significantly, the problem only gets worse the longer you leave it. This leads to poor quality of the bone, as well as it’s reduced size, which in turn leads to an unsuitable condition for dental implant placement. This is one of the worst things that could happen as there will be no bone structure left in which to attach a dental implant. In these situations, patients may require bone grafting to rebuild the jawbone and make it suitable for dental implants. This is just to provide a platform on which a dental implant cant be surgically placed. There are two types of bone graft procedures, as listed below:
Sinus lift procedure
This procedure involves lifting up the sinus membrane in the back area of the upper jaw, the soft tissue right at the back of your mouth, and placing the bone graft on the base of it. Dental implants can then be successfully mounted in the new stable bone. Patients often see a significant improvement in their chewing capacity within 2-6 months. This may seem like a while to wait for improvement, but considering how delicate oral surgery is it isn’t really long to wait at all.
Ridge-augmentation for Bone Grafting
Bone loss in areas of missing teeth can be very severe, and often there is not enough solid bone to support a dental implant. A bone graft to these areas is usually performed to rebuild the foundation of the bone. There are several sources for the bone grafting material, one of them being autologous (this is bone harvested from the patient’s own body), and another being synthetic. Any dentist will be happy to talk to you about the different bone grafting options that are available.