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During the dental implants installation process, your teeth, gums, and jawbone will be examined in detail. During this process, it is determined that a small portion of patients do not have enough healthy natural bone to support dental implants.
What Causes Lack Of Jawbone Volume?
Lack of jawbone density can be caused by the following issues:
- Gum or periodontal disease
- Genetic or growth defects
- Long term denture wear
- Facial injury or trauma
- Lost teeth that are not replaced
What Is Bone Grafting?
Bone grafting is a safe and usually successful treatment that involves adding donated bone to the jaw to create healthy volume and density. The procedure can usually be done in your doctor’s office with little time and minimal pain.
Bone Grafting In The Past
Bone grafting was initially designed as a treatment tool to help patients more comfortably and effectively wear dentures. In its earlier stages, the procedure took place in a hospital, was extremely painful and often required extensive skin grafts. The efforts were obviously experimental and much clumsier than they are today. Fortunately, the bone grafting procedure has come a long way in the last few decades.
What Does The Bone Grafting Procedure Look Like?
Bone grafts are usually performed in Dr. Kuzmin’s office using local anesthesia to numb the area that will be involved. After the procedure, patients are given antibiotics, pain medication if needed, and an antibacterial mouthwash. It is important that after the surgery you avoid putting pressure on the bone graft area. Once the area has healed completely, you can be re-evaluated for dental implant placement.
Will Bone Grafting Be Painful?
Individual pain tolerance during bone grafting often varies, but most patients claim that they experienced less discomfort than a tooth extraction. Pain experienced during the procedure is usually well controlled with anesthesia. Pain experienced after the procedure can usually be well controlled with over the counter pain medications.
After The Bone Grafting
Once your bone graft has healed, your dental implant can be placed. The amount of time the integration takes varies depending on the location of the graft and the density of the bone. It may take up to three or more months for the bone graft area to heal and the same amount of time for your dental implant to properly heal.
Come Get Evaluated For Dental Implants By Dr. Kuzmin
Only a dental implant expert like Dr. Kuzmin can tell you if you need bone grafting prior to dental implants installation. Once your jawbone density has been sufficiently supplemented with bone grafting, it should better be able to properly support dental implants. If you would like to know more about dental implants benefits, your financing options or what makes a good candidate for dental implants, check out the rest of our dental implants website or call us for more information. We look forward to helping you get a healthier and more attractive smile with Torrington Dental Care and dental implants.
