Just like a house needs solid ground, dental implants need strong bone to support them. Bone grafting is a routine procedure that regenerates lost jawbone, making your implant surgery a success.
Restores Volume
Essential for Implants
When a tooth is lost, the jawbone naturally begins to shrink (resorb) because it is no longer being stimulated by chewing.
Dental implants are screws. If the bone is too thin or soft, the screw won't hold. Grafting thickens the bone to anchor the implant securely.
Severe bone loss can make your face look "sunken" or aged prematurely. Grafting maintains the natural contours of your jawline.
If we remove a tooth, we often place a graft immediately ("Socket Preservation") to prevent the bone from collapsing while it heals.
Depending on where you have lost bone, we use different techniques to restore it.
Performed at the exact same time as a tooth extraction. We fill the empty hole with bone material to keep the socket wide and strong for a future implant.
For upper back teeth. The sinuses are often very close to the roots. We gently lift the sinus membrane and add bone underneath to create room for an implant.
If you have been missing teeth for a long time, your jaw ridge may be too thin. We add bone material along the ridge to widen it enough to hold a screw.
We use safe, sterilized grafting materials that act as a scaffold. Your body's own cells will grow into this scaffold, eventually replacing it with your own natural bone.
Sterilized bone from a human donor. This is the most common choice as it requires no extra surgery on your part.
Laboratory-made materials (like calcium phosphate) that mimic the structure of natural bone.
Sterilized bone mineral derived from animals (usually bovine). Excellent for maintaining volume.
Rarely needed for minor grafts. Involves taking a small amount of bone from another part of your own jaw.