Bone Grafting

Following tooth extraction, the bone surrounding the teeth immediately undergoes resorption. The amount of bone loss will vary from peron to person and site to site but can be quite severe, with as much as 40% of the height and 60% of the width lost within the first year. After many years, there may not be enough bone to place implants, and a bone graft will be needed.

If you need to have teeth extracted as part of your treatment plan, we may recommend that a graft material be placed into the sockets at the time of extraction. This procedure has been shown to result in reduced bone resorption during the early healing stage, therefore there is more bone available for the placement of dental implants at a later time. For extraction sites which will not receive dental implants in the future, a non-resorbable augmentation material can be placed into the sockets which has the potential to maintain bone and soft tissue contour over the long term.

If your teeth have been missing for many years, a reconstructive procedure may be required prior to the placement of implants. Many times the bone contour can be reconstructed using synthetic materials or so-called "bank bone" which is derived from human donors. For small defects these materials usually work well. For larger defects, the use of autogenous bone may be required. Autogenous bone is widely recognized as the best quality bone graft available, and refers to the fact that the transplanted bone is taken from one area of the jaw and placed into a second area in the same patient.