Bonegrafting
Bone Augmentation
Bone augmentation are done when there is not enough of healthy natural bone to support dental implants.
Bone loss or bone resorption may be due to:
– Gum disease or periodontal disease
– Tooth development defects
– Wearing of dentures or leaving missing gaps over long term period
– injury or trauma
There several types of bone augmentation to rebuild and restore bone for implant support.
1) Bone grafts
Bone grafting involves adding bone to the jaw by using
a) your own natural bone from another location and/or from a donor
b) processed or synthetic bone materials
If a large block of bone is required, natural bone is normally taken from another site. If the bone graft is not significant, processed or synthetic bone materials may be used. Bone grafting is commonly and often performed at the dental clinic under local anesthesia. You’re periodontist or implantologist may sometimes membranes with bonegrafting to accelerate or improve the success rates of the bone grafts procedure.
2) Sinus Lift
Sinus lift is also known as sinus elevation or sinus augmentation and is done only for the upper maxilla area. When the upper jaw back teeth are missing, the sinus cavity or sinus wall may become larger as bone deteriorates over time. A sinus lift is a bone-augmentation procedure used to lift up the wall of the sinus and adding bone below the sinus to provide ample bone support for the dental implant post.
The sinus lift procedure does not affect speech, intonation or cause sinus problems.
3) Aleovoplasty
Alveoloplasty also referred as alveoplasty is a surgical procedure used to smooth and reshape jawbone in areas where teeth have been extracted or lost.
After the bone grafts, sinus lift or alveoloplasty procedure, antibiotics and pain medication, antibacterial mouthwash may be administered. You’re dentist will also provide instructions to eat soft foods and avoid heavy pressure on the bone graft site. You should be able work and go about your everyday life.
The amount of time for bone augmentation depends on the bone grafting location and bone density ranging from 3 to 6 months or more.
Dental implant posts may be placed during the same surgical visit with bone grafts, sinus lift or alevoplasty if bone loss is not overly severe. For cases requiring block bone grafts or major grafting, the jaw bone is normally left to heal before the dental implant posts are embedded at a separate visit.
