Bone Grafting

• The main purpose of bone grafting is to obtain an adequate level of bone in order to replace a missing tooth with a dental implant.  Every case is different and some are more complex than others.  A customized treatment will be tailored to your specific case.

• Placing a bone graft at the time of tooth removal is called a socket preservation bone graft.
• This type of bone graft maintains the bone volume for a dental implant in the future.  After a tooth is extracted, the surrounding bone can resorb or shrink.  This graft can help prevent the natural bone from shrinking over time.
• There is no better time to bone graft than at the time of tooth removal.
• A socket preservation bone graft is the easiest, quickest, and most cost effective way to insure there is enough bone volume for a future implant.
• Healing time is typically 3-4 months.

• The alveolar ridge is the tooth bearing portion of the jaw.
• After a tooth is removed, many times the surrounding natural bone will shrink (resorb) losing height or width or both.
• A ridge augmentation bone graft is used when there is not enough natural bone in the jaw to place a dental implant.
• Bone regeneration is possible to restore the alveolar ridge to its natural state so that a dental implant can be placed successfully.
• Healing time typically 6 months.

• A sinus augmentation bone graft is used when there is inadequate bone height for a dental implant in the upper posterior jaw bone.

Important Anatomy

• The maxillary sinus is an air filled cavity that lies above the posterior teeth is the upper jaw bone. 
• The sinus floor usually drops down around the roots of the upper posterior teeth leaving little vertical bone height to place a dental implant.

Solution

• In order to increase the bone volume for successful dental implant placement, a bone graft can be placed in the maxillary sinus to lift the sinus floor.
• Sinus augmentation bone grafting is usually very predictable and successful! In some cases, this can be done at the same time as dental implant placement which can decrease treatment time.
• Healing time is typically 6 months.