If your jawbone has thinned out, you are still able to regain that lost function and save your appearance through a bone graft. A bone graft will restore the bone in your jaw by applying soft tissue that recreates bone. After we’ve replaced the bone that you’ve lost, you can receive your tooth-replacement option. After your bone graft, dental implants are then a great option for teeth replacement.
If you’ve had long-term gum disease, the odds are you’ve lost bone mass in your jaw. If this has happened you’re going to need bone grafting in order to rebuild bone mass.
When you lose bone mass in your jaw, your appearance will begin to change. Often, your lower jaw will shrink and will create wrinkles in your skin that weren’t there before. When you get these new wrinkles, you will begin to look older than you really are. Also, your lower jaw shrinking can leave your face looking abnormal because your upper and lower jaw are disproportionate in size. Nobody wants to look odd or older than they really are, but that is exactly what can happen to you if your oral health falls into disrepair. If your oral health has faltered, we can help you get your appearance back to normal with a bone grafting procedure and tooth replacement option at Clear Lake Dental Care.
These are the general scenarios in which a patient will require bone grafting:
While a bone graft sounds like an intricate procedure, it’s really quite straightforward. These treatments are usually done with the patient under only local anesthesia. The first step is to make a small incision in the gum tissue to gain access to the jawbone. To prepare for implant placement, the graft material will usually be placed in the socket formerly occupied by the natural tooth root. The material your Clear Lake Dental Care dentist will use for your graft can come from another bone in your body, from a cadaver or animal source, or from synthetic bone graft material. We’ll discuss your options beforehand. The bone graft material is then placed down into the tooth socket; it is covered with a collagen membrane; and the incision is closed.
Now we wait. Your body initiates the building of new bone and this takes several months. As this process progresses, your body replaces the bone graft material with new bone.
If you have more minimal bone loss and we believe you have adequate bone mass to take an implant, we may insert bone graft material at the same time we are placing the implant base into your jaw. Then your jaw will create new bone mass at the same time it is growing around the implant.
