Bone Grafts
What Is A Bone Graft?
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.
Who Is A Good Candidate For Bone Grafting?
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:
- Dental Implants — Grafts rebuild bone so that it is able to adequately anchor and support dental implants.
- Tooth Extractions — For adult tooth extractions, it is common for the dentist or oral surgeon to place bone-grafting material down in the tooth socket after a tooth has been removed. This ensures that, should the patient want to replace the tooth with an implant down the road, there will be adequate bone mass.
- To Save Teeth — When a person has severe periodontal disease, the teeth can become loose and there is risk of losing multiple teeth. Bone grafting can be done around the teeth to increase bone and support the teeth.
The Bone Grafting Procedure
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.
Experts In The Field
If you have lost teeth and have not had them replaced because you don’t have enough bone to support replacement teeth, you may be in need of a bone graft. Call Clear Lake Dental Care at 832-479-4676 or make an appointment using our online form. We wish to give you the smile that you’ve always dreamed about, even in seemingly hopeless situations such as lost bone. Your smile can be realized at Clear Lake Dental Care!
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