All You Need to Know About Dental Bone Grafts

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You can transform your smile using a dental implant to replace an extracted or missing tooth. They look and function just like your natural teeth, but they need a sufficient amount of jawbone to implant successfully. The good news is that you can restore your jawbone’s volume or density through augmentation procedures such as bone grafting. An Encino bone grafting expert can increase the viability of your dental implants.

What Is a Dental Bone Graft?

A dental bone graft refers to a procedure that replaces missing bone mass in your jaw using bone grafting material to enhance regeneration. As your natural bone grows, it absorbs the graft material resulting in the complete integration of a new bone. Bone grafting material comes in four different types:

  • Autografts- They use bone tissue from other parts of your own body. The medical professional typically extracts the bone tissue from your chin or hip.
  • Allografts- Bone tissues used in this procedure come from a different human donor. In most cases, the practitioner uses a cadaver bone that has undergone numerous treatments to neutralize host diseases and immune reactions.
  • Xenografts- In this case, you use portions extracted from animal bones, primarily cows.
  • Alloplastic- Alloplastic bone grafts are made from hydroxyapatite, a mineral that occurs naturally in the bones.
  • Ceramic grafts- As the name suggests, they come from ceramics. They can also combine other materials such as bioactive glass or calcium.

Most professionals view autografts as the gold standard for bone grafting materials, but you should consult with your dentist to determine the most suitable option for your treatment.

Why Do You Need a Bone Graft?

If you experience bone loss, you may need a bone graft to help provide enough support to existing teeth or a restoration procedure. Loss of bone mass in the jaw can result from aging, genetic or development defects, untreated, periodontal disease, trauma, and missing teeth. If you have a tooth extraction and plan on getting dental implants, your dentist can recommend bone grafting. Almost half of all implant procedures involve bone grafting.

What Does Bone Grafting Involve?

Before bone grafting, you meet with a specialist to talk about your treatment plan and the ideal bone grafting material for your treatment. The bone grafting procedure varies depending on the reason for treatment. However, it will almost always start with anesthesia to numb the surgical site. In treatments involving autograft material, the dentist will go ahead and extract the bone from the extraction location. If you need a tooth extraction, the dentist will also do it at this time. They will then insert the graft material after cleaning the site.

Once it is in place, the practitioner closes the area using pins, plates, cables, wires, or titanium screws to hold the tissue in position. If they extract the tissue from your body, they will also stitch the area together. You can then focus on your recovery.

In summary, bone grafting is a procedure aiming at replacing missing bone mass in your jaw using bone grafting material for better regeneration. There are four different types of bone graft material. You may need bone grafting if you experience bone loss. The whole procedure lasts a single day and may vary depending on your reason for treatment.