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Bone Grafting

Prior to getting dental implants, it might be necessary to increase the amount of bone available to support your teeth. This is done through a procedure called bone grafting.

Bone volume can be affected by a variety of factors such as periodontal disease or trauma and infenctions. Sometimes during a dental implant procedure, dentists find that the critical supporting bone is missing. Through bone grafting, we can increase the height and width of the bone or fill in anatomical voids in bone and fill in the defects that develop when teeth are lost.

So, what is involved?

Dental implant bone grafting is a surgical procedure that can usually be done in the dental office. It replaces the bone that has been lost with material from the patient's own body (autogenous bone) or with a natural, artificial, or synthetic substitute. In most cases the goal of the implant dentist is to generate new healthy and natural bone in the area of the procedure.

What are the types of bone graft?

• autogenous - bone taken from one area of the patient and transplanted to another area requiring such grafting
• allograft - either synthetic bone or bone from a bone bank (cadaver bone)
• xenograft - bovine /cow bone

Which graft is used and when and why?

Autogenous bone is the "gold standard" and oftentimes has the most predictable results. This is described as the best type of graft because such bone is live bone with live active cellular elements that enhance bone growth, whereas other types of grafts are devoid of any active cellular material.

Allografts and Xenografts both do not require a second surgical site as does the autogenous bone. Ample amounts can be easily obtained.