Bone Grafting
Guided bone regeneration is the procedure to repair bone loss and atrophy by building up a thin or shrunken jawbone. A bone graft may be necessary if you are considering a dental implant but you have insufficient bone height or thickness as a result of bone loss.
Bone loss can be caused by a variety of factors such as infection, trauma, and periodontal (gum) disease. The teeth play an important role to maintain bone density by a natural renewing process and ensure normal bone growth and development.
Once tooth loss occurs, bone remodeling begins. Ultimately the jaw losses both bone height and thickness in the areas of lost teeth. The jawbone serves as an anchor for the dental implants. Patients who are considering getting dental implants who have thin jawbones are faced with the choice of having narrow diameter or mini implants placed or having bone grafting with traditional implants being placed. Narrow diameter implants have been associated with significantly higher failure rates compared to regular or wide diameter implants when compared in all types of bone types. This type of bone grafting can also repair the facial contours that give patients a “sunken in” appearance. This aged appearance is both undesirable and unattractive. Bone grafting and dental implants as a combined procedure are great options to treat these problems and most likely to result in an optimal result.
How predictable is bone grafting?
Bone grafting is a highly successful procedure and almost 1 million bone grafting procedures performed in US each year, with a growth of 13% per year. There is a small risk of graft rejection/failure that can happen as a result of an infection or other factors such as smoking and special medical conditions of each patient.
Bone grafting is a worthwhile procedure for dental implants that greatly increase the overall prognosis for dental implant placement. Dr. Cook performs bone grafting regularly at our office, helping more patients than ever benefit from the beauty and durability of dental implants. Dr. Cook can help you achieve you goals of improving your bite, or fuction, or smile by utilizing the latest diagnostic technology and surgical expertise with the help of our skilled dental professionals.
What options or products are available for bone grafting?
Bone grafting material used in our office:
- Bone Autograft (bone from you, chin, jaw, or hip)
- Bone Allograft (bone from a disease free organ donor, from a tissue bank)
- Bone Xenograft (bone take from cow, horse, or pig)
- Bone Alloplast (artificial bone)
