Bone Grafting
what is bone grafting?
Your oral surgeon may talk to you about undergoing a bone graft for dental implants if he or she believes that your jaw bone is too thin or soft to keep an implant in place in its current state. If the bone cannot support the implant, it may cause the implant surgery to fail.
Fortunately, transplanting bone tissue into the jaw from other parts of the body or from a tissue bank provides a solid foundation for the installation of dental implants.
What's the difference between major and minor bone grafting?
Major bone grafts are typically performed to repair jaw defects. These defects may arise as a result of traumatic injuries, tumour surgery, or congenital defects. Large defects are repaired using the patient’s own bone. This bone is harvested from a number of different areas depending on the size needed. The skull (cranium), hip (iliac crest), and lateral knee (tibia), are common donor sites.
Minor bone grafts, including sinus lift and ridge expansion, typically require IV sedation or general anesthesia, but patients can go home the day of surgery in most cases.
- Sinus Lift: Sinus bone grafts are also performed to replace bone in the posterior upper jaw. In addition, special membranes may be utilized that dissolve under the gum to protect the bone graft, as well as encourage bone regeneration. The oral surgeon and maxillofacial surgeon then enters the sinus either from where the upper teeth used to be or from the side of the upper jaw. The sinus membrane is then lifted upward and donor bone is inserted into the floor of the sinus. After several months of healing, the bone becomes part of the patient’s jaw and dental implants can be inserted and stabilized in this new sinus bone.
- Ridge Expansion: A technique used to restore the lost bone dimension when the jaw ridge gets too thin to place conventional implants. In this procedure, the bony ridge of the jaw is literally expanded by mechanical means. Bone graft material can be placed and matured for several months before placing any dental implants.
What to expect during a bone grafting procedure:
In a bone graft procedure, your oral and maxillofacial surgeon will take a section of bone from another area of your body, or use a special bone grafting material, and graft it onto your jaw bone. You will then have to wait a few months while the graft creates enough new, strong bone to make sure that the implant will be stable and secure. If you only need a minor graft, the procedure might be able to be done at the same time as the implant surgery, but your oral surgeon will make the final decision.