What is a bone graft?
A bone graft procedure is to add back bone where there is not enough. Usually this is in preparation for a future implant. An implant needs to have bone completely surrounding it so it can heal and anchor to the jaw. When a person has a tooth taken out there is a large hole where the tooth used to be and in order to create an ideal foundation bone grafting is often used to fill this hole. When the bone heals completely and there is enough volume of bone then an implant can be placed.
Why is bone grafting important?
If a tooth has been missing for quite some time then the bone can shrink, we call this atrophy. Just like not using your muscles causes it to shrink, not having a natural tooth or implant signals to the bone it is not needed and so it disappears over time. How much of the bone disappears and how quickly varies form individual to individual. Some people go a few years without noticible changes, others will have dramatic changes within months rather than years. These changes are often undetectable to you but is something your dentist and periodontist will notice. The most change and shrinkage of the bone occurs over the firsts few months to first year a tooth has been missing. In this case some bone may need to be grafted or in other words added back to increase the volume of bone to support an implant.
Bone grafts can be needed for other reasons such as supporting a denture or providing a more natural gum anatomy. This can aid in keeping a denture in place or providing a more natural gum line around crown and bridges.
What material is used in a bone graft?
There are a variety of sources for the bone graft. Depending on your needs and desires you and Dr. Lai will discuss which materials are best suited to optimize your results.
Although there are many advancements in our ability to add bone graft, not all results are the same and some results are less than ideal. The more of your own bone there is and the less material needed for grafting the better results you’ll have. It’s better to do something sooner than later so call for a consult with Dr. Lai and know your what choices you have.
Figure 1. An infected tooth, notice the shadows around the roots of the second tooth in the image.
Figure 2. Tooth has been extracted and bone graft added to fill the space.
Figure 3. Green arrows highlight where the bone graft was placed.
