Dental Bone Grafts: Techniques and Materials

Dental bone grafts are procedures performed to augment bone and part of the jaw where bone loss occurs, or additional bone support is needed. Bone for the grafting is obtained from elsewhere in the body for surgical fusion to the existing bone in the jaw. Occasionally synthetic bone materials are used.

The dentist near you may recommend a dental bone graft if you need additional procedures like dental implants, primarily if bone loss affects the nearby gum and teeth health.

If you want to know more about dental bone grafts, how these procedures are completed, and what to expect from them, kindly continue reading for more details.

What Precisely Is a Dental Bone Graft?

Dental bone grafts are processes when a dentist or oral surgeon makes incisions in the jaw and grafts other bone material into the surgical site. Although dental bone grafts are performed differently, the standard procedure remains the same.

Dental bone grafts become necessary if you have lost one or more permanent teeth or have gum disease. These issues can cause bone loss in the jaw.

The preferred approach for bone grafting is to use natural bone from the hips, tibia, or the back of the jaw for autografts. Autografts are considered the gold standard as they help increase bony support in the jaw and promote faster healing and new bone regeneration. Mentioned below are the four sources of material for grafting, with their benefits and downsides.

Versions of Bone Grafts

• Autografts: Autografts involve bone from your body from the hip or jaw.
• Allografts: Allografts use bone from other people, usually cadavers.
• Xenografts: When bones from animals like cows, pigs, or coral are used is called a xenograft.
• Alloplasts: Alloplasts deal with synthetic material like calcium phosphate, calcium sodium phosphosilicate, or bioglass.

Studies from 2019 mentioned that the ideal bone reconstruction material hadn’t been determined, but promising grafting materials using cells, gene-modifying drugs, and growth factors are on the horizon.

Ideal Candidates for Bone Grafts

Some common reasons why you may need a bone graft are mentioned below for your reference:

• Implants For Missing Teeth: if you intend to get dental implants in Saint Paul, MN, to replace missing teeth and have lost bone, the provider suggests a bone graft to augment bone in your jaw. Often bone grafting is essential to provide a stable base for dental implants that resemble artificial roots shaped like screws for surgical embedding in your jaw. A dental crown matching the neighboring teeth is finally placed atop the implant.
• Tooth Loss or Gum Disease: dental implants are not the only reason to receive a bone graft. You may need this process if you have lost bone from tooth loss or gum disease. Bone loss starts affecting the adjacent teeth and gum tissue. Dentists help prevent further bone loss and long-term health complications by stabilizing your jaw with a bone graft. In addition, improperly managed gum disease can result in additional tooth loss.
• Bone Loss: if people’s appearance is affected by bone loss, they also benefit from bone grafts. Loss of bone mass in the jaw makes a face look shorter than usual. Bone loss is standard in adults, similarly, as the odds of developing osteoporosis, a bone-thinning condition, increase as you age.

How Is a Dental Bone Graft Performed?

When receiving a dental bone graft, before getting dental implants near you, the dentist injects anesthesia in your mouth and monitors your vital signs throughout the procedure. The technician cleans the affected area, and the surgeon makes incisions in the gums to separate it from the bone where the grafting material is placed. The surgeon places the grafting material between the two sections of bone that need to regenerate. The bone graft is held with a dissolvable adhesive material or membranes with special screws. The incision is sutured to start the healing process.

If you have significant bone loss in the anterior region of your jaw bone from the back of your jawbone is taken from near your wisdom teeth. If bone loss has occurred near the upper molars permitting the sinuses to move down, bone grafts help restore stability while moving the sinuses back to their original positions.

If you need a bone graft soon after tooth extraction to avoid bone loss, dentists can help you with a similar procedure to ensure your jawbone doesn’t resorb.

Dental bone grafts help restore long-term health problems associated with tooth loss or gum disease, besides providing sufficient bone material to support dental implants. This standard procedure is well tolerated by following your doctor’s instructions during recovery to minimize your chances of complications and improve the chances of maintaining good dental health later. Little Canada Dental suggests this procedure for patients needing dental implants to replace missing teeth. If you intend to replace your lost teeth with dental implants but have jawbone resorption, kindly discuss this procedure with the practice before getting your replacement teeth.