Overview
Your jawbone’s strength is important to your total oral health. With a weakened jawbone from physical trauma or missing teeth, you may need to get bone grafting so your jaw can properly fit both dental implants and your natural teeth. Bone grafting helps to reinforce and build up your jawbone so it’s stable enough to hold an implant. At Oral, Facial and Implant Surgery Salina, osseous surgery is performed to strengthen your jawbone before implant surgery to replace missing or weak teeth. Our surgeons also utilize platelet-rich fibrin for autologous bone grafting and tissue regeneration to allow for proper healing. Make an appointment with one of our board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeons in Salina, KS to get more information on surgical bone grafts.
The Benefits
Bone grafting comes with several potential benefits. Here are a few reasons why you might consider a bone graft:
- Bone grafts support dental appliances such as bridges and crowns.
- Bone grafting can restore your face’s structure and appearance while preventing further bone atrophy.
- Bone grafting provides support for your surrounding teeth.
- Having a bone graft can restore your smile, along with your sense of self-confidence.
- A bone graft can be the first step toward long-lasting tooth replacement via dental implants.
Best Candidates
A weakened jawbone may be caused by some oral diseases, like gingivitis, or if you had a physical trauma to your mouth. The jawbone may begin to atrophy if you were missing a tooth (or teeth), and it wasn’t treated/was replaced with a removable or cemented restoration instead of a dental implant. A bone graft builds up the jaw and prepares you for a dental implant; however, you’ll have to be willing to commit time to the process. Bone grafting may need several months to heal, but you’ll get a stronger, healthier jawbone that will support your dental implant and your natural teeth to give you an overall healthier mouth.
What To Expect
The exact process of bone grafting surgery will depend on the graft source and the amount of grafting being done. Your bone graft may be taken from your own body from areas like your shin, chin, or hip, which is called an autograft. An autograft may be performed in our office using sedation and local anesthesia, or at a surgical facility using general anesthesia. Additional graft methods include an allograft, which harvests bone from another human. A xenograft is a bone graft from an animal, usually a cow. A synthetic bone graft may also be used, known as an alloplast. At your consultative appointment, your doctor will go over your options for bone grafts and help you select the best method.
Once your graft is ready, they will prepare the areas being treated and place an incision through the gum tissue to reveal the bone. Your bone graft will be affixed to your jawbone with proteins and collagen that stimulate growth in the graft. The incision will be closed with sutures and the mouth will be cleaned.
Recovery
In the following six or more months, the graft should heal into your jaw, a process known as osseointegration. Within this timeframe, it is critical to follow a proper oral care routine with flossing and brushing, plus any additional products suggested by your doctor. He may write a prescription for pain medication or antibiotics for any inflammation or discomfort after your graft procedure. You may need to make follow-up appointments at Oral, Facial and Implant Surgery Salina for progress checks and to decide when you are ready for the dental implant process that is needed.
Bone Grafting Videos
Bone Grafting
Rebuild your jaw so it can hold both dental implants and your natural teeth with bone graft surgery at Oral, Facial and Implant Surgery Salina. During your consultation, you can receive more information about your options for graft material and get a unique plan for treatment that gives you a stronger jawbone. Contact us in Salina, KS to make your appointment.
*Individual results are not guaranteed and may vary from person to person. Images may contain models.
