Demystifying Bone Grafting in Dental Implants

By: Dr. Rajan Sharma

Your smile and dental health are what people first notice when you speak. Bone grafts are a requirement before doing dental implants. They are used as fillers, which enhance bone formation and promote wound healing. The grafts are bioresorbable since they often draw from your body and facilitate the growth of body cells, which leads to new bone formation.

You develop a ridge deficit when you lose a tooth, have gum disease, or have congenital malformations. A ridge deficit happens when an amount of bone is lost. The goal of bone growth is to replace the materials in the jaw, eliminate the dead space and reduce the possibility of infection.

EON Clinics offers the surgical procedure of replacing your missing bone with materials from your body, synthetics and artificial or natural substitutes. Bone grafting is possible because bone tissue can regenerate completely in the right environment.

We have a team of dental surgeons with years of experience in bone grafting for patients. Over the years, EON Clinics has employed technology in the process, ensuring we offer our patients top-notch care and success.

Bone Grafting in Dental Implants Overview

In a nutshell, bone grafting ensures that dental implants are held in place. The procedure of replacing the missing bone with material from the body creates a foundation on which an implant can be placed. When the procedure is done, the jaw bone increases in volume and density, offering the implant a place to hold onto.

You can qualify for a dental bone graft for many reasons, but here are the main ones: implants for missing teeth, tooth loss or gum disease and bone loss often caused by a bone-thinning condition as you age.

Types of Dental Grafting

The procedure of bone grafting will depend on the patient’s root cause. These are the commonly used bone grafts based on material groups.

Autografts

Bone is obtained from the patient’s nonessential bones, such as the iliac crest and the chin area. The disadvantage of autologous is that you will have another surgical site, which means another potential site for pain and complications.

Allografts

Here, the bone is harvested from someone other than the patient. It is taken from cadavers who have donated their bone to be used for living people. It is often stored in the bone banks.

Xenografts

Bone is harvested from a species other than humans, often bovine, and used as a calcified matrix.

Procedure

First, you will receive anesthesia and be monitored before the procedure. The dental surgeon then cleans the affected areas and makes an inclination in the gum to separate the material from the bone when placed. The material obtained is placed between the sections of the bone that need to grow together, and a disposable adhesive is then used to hold the bone graft in place.

Benefits of Bone Grafting

  • Bone grafting improves stability by increasing the volume of the jaw bone, which ensures a tooth is held in place.
  • Besides nice stability, bone grafting will restore your facial structure and appearance, making you look younger.

Risks of Bone Grafting

Like any other medical procedure, dental grafting comes with some risks. Before undergoing the procedure, it is necessary to understand the risks involved.

Infection

This is possible, especially when one doesn’t maintain good oral hygiene. After the procedure, the doctor will administer antibiotics to reduce the risk of infection. Taking the medicine as prescribed and maintaining good oral hygiene will also reduce the risk of infection.

Swelling and Discomfort

This is common, but it is managed similarly to infection. Proper hygiene and medication will help. The doctor will prescribe you painkillers to take once the anesthesia wears off.

Dental Graft Failure

It is very rare but possible. It occurs when the harvested bone fails to secure itself into its new location. However, with technology, the rates of graft failure are minimal.

Recovery and Outlook

A dental bone procedure that doesn’t involve harvesting bone material from the patient is minor and heals very quickly. Of course, you will experience a little discomfort and manageable pain after the anesthesia wears off. The pain is tolerable, and over-the-counter painkillers will relieve you for the next few days.

When bone material is obtained from the patients, the recovery can be more painful since the surgery is done in two locations. However, the doctor will give you painkillers to relieve the pain in the next couple of days.

When to See a Doctor

A dental bone graft is usually safe and effective. But when you start getting complicated, see a doctor as soon as possible. Here are the signs to look out for:

  • Pain worsens
  • Redness and swelling, numbness
  • Implant loss.