Bone Graft

Your bone and gum tissue should fit snugly around your teeth like a turtleneck around your neck. When you have periodontal disease, this supporting tissue and bone is destroyed and pockets develop. Bone grafting helps to restore or regenerate missing bone and attachment, helping to avoid the loss of teeth.

During this procedure, Dr. Grimard or Dr. Myers folds the gum tissue and removes the disease-causing bacteria. Bone grafts, bio-compatible membranes or tissue-stimulating proteins are then added, all of which will enhance the support of your teeth. There are many regenerative techniques and methods. Bone purchased from bone banks has been used effectively as a regenerative material for over 30 years. This bone is procured from healthy individuals, is carefully processed, and has been proven safe. Treatment consists of carefully moving the gum tissue away from the involved teeth and removing tarter (calculus) deposits from the root surfaces.

The bony defect is gently filled with the bone bank material (allogenic bone) or other synthetic materials. The gums are then replaced around the neck of the teeth with small sutures. The sutures are removed after about 10 days, and gentle tooth brushing can resume.

x-ray showing bone loss

x-ray showing bone fill after grafting

Whether a tooth has been lost to periodontal disease, tooth decay, or trauma, one may be left with a cleft, an indentation, or uneven gum margins. This happens because after a tooth is removed, the bone that was encasing it disintegrates and the gum around it collapses. If this occurs in the front of the mouth, it can result in an esthetic problem. No matter how well designed the replacement teeth are, they may appear to be too long and unattractive. To have a pleasing smile, the shape, color, and texture of the gums is just as important as that of the teeth they frame.

Ridge Augmentation is a surgical technique used to restore the missing bone resulting from extractions, injuries, cysts, and periodontal disease. Dr. Grimard or Dr. Myers performs this procedure in our office with local anesthesia. Stitches are placed to aid in healing. Post-surgical discomfort can last a few days and is usually minimal. It can be easily managed with commonly available over-the-counter medications such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Patients can expect to follow their normal routine the day after oral surgery. We will provide special instructions related to diet, exercise and medications.

To ensure more esthetic results, ridge augmentation procedures should always be done before new crowns are made. Although a temporary (provisional) tooth replacement can be made at the time of tooth loss, the final restoration should not be fabricated until after six to eight weeks of gum healing.

It is possible to help prevent collapse of the gum tissue by doing a bone grafting procedure or by placing an implant at the time of extraction. Although sometimes it may still be necessary to do further periodontal plastic surgery procedures, these treatments can help maintain the space that was previously occupied by the tooth and prevent bone loss. If this was not feasible, ridge augmentation can be done to improve esthetics after tooth extraction.

The sinus lift is another important type of bone graft. When the bone in the sinus region of the upper jaw is not thick enough for an implant, a sinus lift is used to graft bone into the sinus. This new bone supplies the bony height and width necessary for a strong implant.