When a person with good general health loses a tooth due to periodontal disease, injury, or another infection, a dental implant is an excellent, safe, and long-term solution. A dental implant is an artificial tooth root thatis inserted into the jaw in order to hold a replacement tooth or bridge in place. Implants feel and look natural, and once the process is complete, they function exactly like natural teeth, bone grafting may be a necessary part of the process when it comes to inserting a dental implant
When a tooth is removed from the jaw, the bone begins to recede as the tooth root is no longer there to keep the bone in function. Bone loss can continue through time, often resulting in facial changes such as sunken cheeks where teeth have been lost from the back of the mouth and sunken lips when teeth have been lost towards the front. The sooner an implant is placed after tooth removal, the lower the likelihood of augmentation being needed however, advances in dental and medical technology now mean that patients with insufficient bone can have it rebuilt using augmentation.
The bone graft is a safe and highly successfull, surgical procedure used to recreate, build up or add the missing bone, soft supporting tissues and repair implant sites with missing bone material.The goal of this surgery (also called regenerative surgery)is to encourage the body into rebuilding the bone and other structures that attach a tooth to the jaw whilst also giving us the opportunity to restore function and aesthetic appearance at the same time.
Bone grafting may imply that bone is removed from other parts of the body but in the majority of cases bone grafting (or what we prefer to term ‘augmentation’) simply involves placing(substitute bone) filler bone carefully in position to allow and encourage your own natural bone to grow around it. The new bone growth strengthens the grafted areas by forming a bridge between your existing bone and the graft. Over time the newly formed bone will replace much of the grafted material. GBR is a procedure in which a membrane is placed over the bone graft site.
Bone insufficiency can be caused by:
· Gum disease
· Tooth development defects
· Wearing dentures long term
· An injury to the face or trauma
· Spaces left empty in the mouth after teeth are removed
· Dental procedures where efforts were not made to restore natural bone
How are the bone grafting technique is performed
The tooth is removed and the remaining tooth socket is cleansed of all infacted tissue then an appropriate bone grafting material is carefull placed into the extraction socket, a GBR membrane is often placed over the grafted material to protect the newly growing bone, after a suitable amount of recovery time the site will be ready for the new implants.
These procedures are performed at our clinic under local anaesthetic, usually performed without pain there will be some post operative swelling and discomfort all of which are temporary and can be controlled with medication.
Your implants will be placed after the grafted bone has fused or become a strong, integrated part of the existing bone. The amount of time the integration takes varies depending on the location of the graft and the density of the bone. It may take three or more months whilst your body fills in the area with new bone and soft tissue.
