Bone Grafting
Fountain Valley, CA
 Tooth loss has several significant effects on your life. Losing teeth makes basic functions like eating and speaking more challenging, and the quality of your smile suffers. Below the gums, tooth loss also leads to bone loss in your jaw. Dental implants are a popular treatment for replacing missing teeth. Their success depends upon the condition of your jawbone. If you have lost too much bone mass, implants may fail. At Bijan Family Dental Practice, we can increase the success rate of dental implants with bone grafting.
The Role of Your Teeth in Your Jaw
Your teeth play many important roles in your mouth. They allow you to bite, chew, speak, and smile confidently. The teeth also have a hidden role. They provide stimulation for your jawbone. This stimulation triggers your body to send essential nutrients to the jaw and surrounding areas. When you lose teeth, your jawbone loses the stimulation they provide. Because of this, your body begins to think that fewer nutrients are needed, and therefore sends less. Over time, the bone begins to weaken.
The Importance of Bone Mass for Dental Implants
One of the major benefits of dental implants is that, unlike traditional restorations, they restore the stimulation to your jawbone. This helps to put a stop to bone loss in your jaw and prevent new bone loss from occurring. However, for dental implants to be successful, there needs to be sufficient bone mass remaining in your jaw at the time of implant placement. Without sufficient bone mass, your jawbone cannot properly fuse to the posts. This can result in unstable restorations and dental implant failure.
What is Bone Grafting?
If your jaw is considered to be too weak to support dental implants at the time of your initial consultation, this does not mean that you will not be able to receive this treatment. We can make implants possible with bone grafting. Bone grafting is a surgical procedure that involves transplanting bone mass to the weakened areas of your jaw to restore strength.
Bone grafting is performed under a local anesthetic as well as sedation. We begin with small incisions in your gums, which provide us with access to the bone. Next, we take the harvested bone mass, whether it is from your own body or a donor and transplant it into your jaw. Once the procedure is complete, your gums are sutured closed. As you heal, your existing bone mass fuses to the graft material. This restores strength and shape to your bone. After you have fully healed, we are then able to begin the process of placing your dental implants.
Types of Bone Grafts
There are a few different types of bone grafts that may be used to perform your particular procedure. During your initial consultation, we will assess your jaw and go over your options to help choose the best one for you.
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Autogenic. An autogenic bone graft uses bone material harvested from your own body. Because it is your tissue, your body recognizes it and will not reject it. There is also no risk of disease transmission. However, this type of bone grafting does require an additional surgical site to harvest bone.
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Allogenic. An allogenic bone graft uses bone material taken from a tissue bank. The compatible tissue is screened thoroughly before use to ensure safety. Because the tissue is from another individual, there is no need for an additional surgical site.
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Xenogenic. A xenogenic graft uses bone mass harvested from an animal source. Typically, this source is from a cow. The bone is processed at high temperatures to make it safe for use. This type of graft may be recommended if a significant amount of bone mass requires replacement. Like allogenic grafts, you do not require additional surgical sites for harvesting bone mass. |
Bone grafting can help to restore missing bone mass to your jaw, giving the bone back its strength so that it can successfully support dental implants. Call Bijan Family Dental Practice today at (714) 421-4494 for more information.
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