Bone Grafts for Implant Patients
If you’ve been told by other dental implant providers that implants aren’t an option for you, there may be more to the story. One of the biggest reasons why implants are ruled out for some people is because of a lack of bone support. Thankfully bone grafts can change that.
Bone Grafts
A bone graft is a piece of real or artificial bone that is placed into the jaw where an implant may need additional support. Grafts fuse with your jaw and encourage new bone growth in the area. Placing a graft can mean the difference between some people being candidates for implants while others are not.
Do bone grafts hurt? Not necessarily. The type of graft that you have (and whether or not bone is taken from another location) will affect discomfort that may be felt afterward. In most cases the discomfort will be similar to what you experience after having a tooth pulled. We will work with you closely to limit your discomfort after the procedure.
Implants Help Build New Bone
Once your implant is installed, the implant itself will impact the formation of new bone in the area. Implants are already known to support osseointegration – a process where new bone growth is triggered by presence of the titanium that the implant is made from.
Grafting After an Extraction
If you are planning to have an implant placed in an area where a tooth is getting pulled – you may need to have a graft placed immediately after your extraction. This can prevent additional bone loss around the empty tooth socket (something that happens often when teeth are pulled.)
Which Graft is Right for Me?
Our Carmichael dental office offers several types of bone grafts to choose from. Some types of grafts use your own bone taken from another location of your body, such as part of your chin. Others use synthetic materials that our body accepts into the area without complications. Even donor bone from a cadaver or animal can be thoroughly cleaned and sterilized to place safely into your jaw – you might be surprised how often these methods are used! Each one provides successful grafting options for people experiencing bone loss through their jaws.
Do All Implant Patients Need a Graft?
Does our Carmichael dentist have to place a bone graft in all of our dental implant patients? No. Grafting is just a way to strengthen bone in patients with weak bone structure that prevents them from being a traditional candidate for dental implants. Placing an implant into a weak area that has experienced bone loss could jeopardize the stability of the implant prosthesis.
Is it Worth it?
Dental implants offer one of the best types of tooth replacement available to the modern dental patient. If a bone graft makes the difference in whether or not you are a candidate for implants, then grafting deserves some serious consideration.
If you would rather have permanent dental implants than wear a removable prosthesis like a partial denture – then you owe it to yourself to look into how bone grafting can help your smile.
Don’t take no for an answer. If you want to find out more about our Carmichael bone grafts, call Marconi Dental Group today!
