Bone Graft

There are some cases where patients might not be a good candidate for dental implants. Often, this is due to bone recession in the jaw and bone loss in an area where there are missing teeth.

 

 

After a tooth has been removed, the jaw bone begins to recede or resorb, leaving an area of thinned bone with less height. Patients who have worn dentures for several years will notice that their dentures get loose, fit poorly and their face has a “sunken” appearance. This is due to bone recession and loss of the jaw bone structure in this area.

 

 

Many patients who would like to solve the problem of ill-fitting dentures with dental implants have been told that there is no longer enough bone structure to support dental implants.

 

 

Bone grafting can help make dental implants possible. When this is the case, a procedure called bone grafting can often be performed in order to restore the bone height and width in the area. Some bone grafting procedures are very simple and only require the addition of bone around the neck of the dental implant. Other procedures to restore bone are more complex and require transplanting bone from one area of the jawbone to the needed area.