• History of Implants

• FAQ's about Implants

• Implant Restorations

• Implant Surgery

• Surgical Stent

• Bone grafting

Bone loss in the mouth occurs for many reasons: periodontal disease, endodontic infection, resorption due to tooth extraction, trauma, etc. When we evaluate a space for tooth replacement using dental implants, we need to make sure that there is adequate bone mass and height to hold the implant.

A bone graft is a surgical procedure that replaces missing bone with new material. We can use bone from a patient's own body (autogenous bone) or from an artificial, synthetic, or natural substitute. The graft not only replaces missing bone, but also helps your body to regrow its own lost bone. Over time your own newly formed bone will mature and replace much of the grafted material.

Two more common bone grafting procedures are Guided Bone Regeneration and Sinus Augmentation.

GUIDED BONE REGENERATION (GBR):

A procedure in which a membrane is placed over the bone defect site. The basic principle behind ‘guided tissue regeneration’ is that placing a special membrane over the extraction socket to prevent the fast-growing soft tissue cells from entering the bony socket. This allows bone cells present beneath the membrane the extra time they need to fill the socket without competition from soft tissues.

In addition, bone graft material may be placed in the defect site to encourage your own body's bone healing. Different graft materials may be used to fill these bony defects: your own bone taken from other area of your mouth or body(autogenous); treated donor bone from a ‘Bone Bank’; synthetic bone substitutes; and/or highly purified bovine bone mineral.Over a period of time this is replaced by new bone thus providing a bed into which implants can be fixed.

SINUS AUGMENTATION

An anatomic structure located above your upper back molars (and sometimes premolars) is the maxillary sinus. It is very common to find that the sinus sits so low leaving very little bone thickness to consider implant placement without a bone graft. To add bone to the sinus may be done with a procedure known as a ‘sinus augmentation’ or ‘sinus lift’.

There are two methods of perfoming a sinus augmentation/lift:

1. If the amount of bone overlying the sinus is adequate, some surgeons prefer to place the implants at the same time as the grafting procedures. Whatever type of bone is added to the sinus it must be left to mature before implants are placed or brought into function. Due to the extra time necessary for your body to turn-over and mature the grafted material, additional healing time is expected.
2. If the amount of bone overlying the sinus is minimal, the grafting procedure may be done at least 6 months prior to implant placement. After the implants are placed, we may expect a slightly extended healing period prior to fitting the denture or crown & bridgework.