What You Need To Know About Bone Grafts For Dental Implants

If you don't have a sufficient amount of bone in your jaw to maintain dental implants, your dentist may recommend bone grafting. Below you'll learn about this procedure and the different types of bone grafts available.

The Bone Grafting Procedure

When you have a missing tooth, your jawbone becomes smaller, loses density and begins to disintegrate. When you have dental implants, you must have enough bone in your jaw to anchor the posts. For the implant to function properly, you may need a bone graft. A bone graft builds up the bone in your jaw so that your implants will remain securely anchored into your jawbone.

During this minor surgery, your dentist will cut the top of your gum and place the grafting material down inside the incision. Eventually, your bone cells will attach to the graft for new bone growth and your body will absorb the grafting substance. You'll be given a local anesthesia before the procedure and if you have several teeth that need grafting, you may get an oral or intravenous sedative instead.

Common Types of Bone Grafts

There are four common types of bone grafts available if you don't have enough natural bone for your implants.

Autograft - This method of bone grafting consists of taking bone from a different area of your body and using it to build up your jawbone. Your dentist will extract the bone from your chin or underneath your lower jawbone in the back of your mouth. If you're having several implants and you need a large amount of bone, it may be grafted from your hip or shin bone.

An autograft is often the most popular choice for bone grafting because it has the best results. Since this bone marrow contains live cells, it grows and heals faster than other methods.

Allograft - This type of bone graft is acquired from a bone bank , which obtains the bone from deceased human donors. An allograft is suitable for patients who require a large amount of bone for several implants because there's a large supply of bone available at bone banks.

The regeneration process takes longer than with an autograft and this prolongs the healing time. Bone banks take extreme precautions and follow a strict regimen during the processing of the cadaver bone.

Xenograft - Animals, most often cows or pigs, are the donors of this type of bone graft. The molecular structure of humans and these animal species are the same, which makes this type of grafting possible.

Before the grafting process, the compounds of the bone are sterilized. A xenograft is used as a building block for new bone growth and it's eventually replaced with your natural bone.

Alloplast - This type of bone graft is constructed out of synthetic materials, such as calcium phosphates or hydroxy apatite. An alloplast works by stimulating your body to form natural bone to anchor the implant. A growth component is often added to the marrow to increase the growth rate and shorten the healing process. Using synthetic materials is often less effective than the other types of bone grafts, but there's less chance of an infection when using artificial materials.

Synthetic grafts are manufactured in a laboratory, so they're sterile and safe to use. They're available in various forms including granules, gel and powder. Your body gradually absorbs this substance as the new bone replaces the synthetic material.

Now that you know about the different types of bone grafts used with dental implants, you can decide which kind is right for you. If you still need help with your decision, discuss your options with your dentist from a site like http://www.nashvilleperio.com.