Were you planning on replacing a missing tooth with a dental implant until your dentist told you that it’s impossible without bone grafting? Relax. Bone grafting is a common procedure done when there is insufficient bone volume to support a dental implant. All bone grafting does is supplement your bone with replacement bone.
Where Does The Bone Come From?
While the most ideal replacement for missing bone is an autograft, or comes from one’s own body (commonly from the hip), there are drawbacks to this. The greatest negative aspect of replacing bone from your own body is that this requires a hospital visit where an anesthesiologist will put you under and a physician will remove the bone. Later, your cosmetic dentist will use it for your dental implant .
However, there are other options available to you:
· Allograft bone from a bone bank, also referred to as “bone in a bottle”, is a common supplement. This bone is taken from human donors and thoroughly tested for disease
· Ceramics, graft composites and other artificial substitutes known as alloplastic grafts.
· Occasionally synthetic materials are used to stimulate bone growth and formation
· Very rarely, animal bones from a cow or pig are used. This is known as xenografts and the bone is specially processed to make it compatible with humans and sterile
Why Is Bone Grafting Necessary?
A dental implant’s success is dependent on the amount of bone volume available. If poor hygiene, periodontal disease , hereditary issues, trauma or infections have caused you to be without a tooth for an extended time period, than it’s likely that you will need supplemental bone to support your dental implant.
This is because after the loss of a tooth, your body will begin reabsorbing bone back into the body, swallowing the bone needed for an implant.
The Sinus Lift
Sinuses are air cavities within the human skull designed to make the head lighter so that the neck can support it. However, sometimes the sinuses are enlarged and make a dental implant procedure impossible. This is because the implant would be placed into an air cavity with nothing to secure it.
When this occurs, a “sinus lift” is required. This procedure is simple and done by placing bone or bone growth stimulating material into the sinus. Since there are no sinuses in the lower jaw, this is a problem localized for dental implants in the upper jaw.
Is Bone Grafting Safe?
Yes. In fact, receiving a dental implant without the adequate bone volume to support it is dangerous. Even if you aren’t receiving bone from your body, you have nothing to fear as the bone grafting material is safe and of the highest quality:
· Allograft bones, or bones from a “bone bank” are tested for HIV, Hepatitis and other dangerous viruses and agents
· To the surprise of most, synthetic bones are stronger than human bones, more reliable and readily available
· The ceramic, graft composites that are used as a bone graft substitute are immune to infective agents
