Bone Grafting

What is bone grafting and why would you want to place it? Bone grafting, in our dental lingo, is mostly referring to the material and technique used to preserve bone dimensions in the patient’s jaw. But, as you may already be thinking, it is not just that simple.  A bone graft is a medical grade treated bone particles that will be placed in the surgical site of an extracted tooth or a bony defect around natural teeth or implants. This bone acts as a scaffolding system.  It is also treated with some added proteins and molecules that are required by the body to properly lay down new bone. This material is pretty much providing all the tools needed for your body to put YOUR new bone in! Bone is characterized by being a very slow growing and slow healing organ, specially when compared to the skin or gums. Gums usually heal within 10-14 days, whereas bone takes 9-12 months, maybe even longer to heal without grafting; and around 4-6 months with the help of a graft. Provided this fact, we need to place a physical barrier between the bone and the gum tissue, otherwise, the gum growth will invade the newly grafted site, and bone will not grow in that area. This is where a membrane will come in place. Some membranes are made out of collagen, which are resorbed by the body; others are synthetic, which will require removal by us within 2-3 weeks after the grafting was placed.

We would recommend bone grafting on an extraction site that is planned to receive an implant in the future. If a tooth is extracted and no grafting is done, we run the risk of the bone dimensions (height, width and density) collapsing and not have the necessary space for an ideal implant placement. The grafting will allow more predictable dimensions for the area. Grafting will also be recommended on sites where clinical and radiographic bone loss around teeth or implants had been found, and bone regeneration will be required in order to prevent further disease in the area.