Bone Grafting

What is bone grafting?

Bone grafting is a procedure used in dentistry and other medical disciplines to add strength and structure to weak or deficient bones. In the case of dental bone grafting, your provider adds bone mass to your jawbone after it becomes weaker and less sturdy over time. 

At Ueno Center Dental Specialists, the team makes a small incision in your gums to access the jawbone. They add grafting material, either genuine or artificial bone minerals, many times mixed with your own growth factors that encourage natural bone growth to happen around the graft. With so many options for bone grafting materials available, most patients who need bone grafts are candidates for them. 

Where does the bone grafting material come from?

Ueno Center Dental Specialists provides many bone grafting material options depending on your needs and preferences. The team helps you choose the right type of bone grafting and describes the procedure to you in detail. Your options include:

Autogenous bone 

Autogenous bone grafts come from your own body. At Ueno Center Dental Specialists, the team harvests healthy bone from elsewhere in your mouth and places it in the lacking area to encourage bone growth with natural stem cells and growth factors. 

Allogenic bone

Allogenic bone comes from a cadaver. Don’t worry — the bone is processed thoroughly and freeze-dried before your surgeon places it into your jaw. There is no chance for disease transmission, and the graft is completely safe.  Your own bone material grows around an allogenic graft like a scaffold.

Xenogenic bone

Xenogenic bone is also donor bone, but it comes from animals, mainly a cow or pig. It works in the same way as allogenic bone.  

Synthetic bone

If you’re not keen on using bone from a cadaver or an animal, synthetic or manmade bone material is also an option. However, synthetics are rarely recommended as they have a lower success rate and are less predictable in terms of regenerating bone.

Why do I need a bone graft?

If you lose a tooth during adulthood, a new one doesn’t grow in. In fact, your body begins to absorb the bone in your jaw under the missing tooth. In other cases, you might still have your tooth, but the bone beneath quickly disintegrates due to decay. In both of these cases, a bone graft may be necessary to add structure to your jawbone. 

The team at Ueno Center Dental Specialists often recommends bone grafting to patients who want dental implants but don’t have enough bone mass in their jaw. Bone grafting extends the implant placement process, so dentists often perform a bone graft soon after an extraction in case a future implant is needed.

How does socket preservation support my oral health after an extraction?

The team at Ueno Center Dental Specialists may recommend socket preservation if you have a tooth extracted. When you have a tooth removed, there is a small hole left behind in your mouth, which contains a vulnerable nerve that can be very sensitive after your procedure. 

Socket preservation can help to protect this nerve by preventing dry socket. However, socket preservation also helps to preserve your alveolar ridge by preventing bone loss, which can cause your teeth to shift and become misaligned. When socket preservation is performed at the time of extraction can lessen the likelihood that you will need a bone graft in the future, should you decide to get a dental implant to replace your missing tooth. 

To learn more about your choices for bone grafting, call Ueno Center Dental Specialists, or book an appointment online today.