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Dental Implant ---- Bone Graft
Replacing missing bone or adding to existing bone is very often essential to the success of a dental implant and the ensuing restoration. The techniques to do this are well documented and should be used when indicated by any dentist who places dental implants. Most of us will have a good idea when additional bone or bone repair will be necessary before actually starting the placement of a dental implant and the patients should be informed of this possibility. Sometimes, however, we do get fooled and run into areas where unexpected Bone graft is indicated. Sometimes when a dental implant is placed, it is necessary to build up the bone in the area to insure success. The procedure of building up the bone is known as Bone Grafting. Bone grafting is a very common procedure in dentistry and it is used quite a bit for dental implants and in periodontal procedures around natural teeth. In order to do bone grafting, we need a source of bone to place in the site. The bone that we use can be one of three types. The best bone is bone that is taken from the patient that we are working on. This bone can be taken from other areas of the mouth or collected in our suction apparatus as we drill into the bone to prepare the sites for dental implants. Occasionally this bone is taken from areas outside the mouth, such as the hip.
There are two potential downsides to bone grafting in conjunction with dental implants. The first is that the process of bone grafting and the ensuing healing period may add significant time to the procedure. The second problem is the increased cost of these procedures. Most of you who come to this site already know that I am very much in favor of keeping the cost of dental implant work as low as possible. However, some people let the costs get way out of hand when things like grafting get involved because they tend to mystify these procedures and make them appear to be very costly.
While there are several membranes on the market and controversy exists as to which are best, they all seem to work pretty much the same. The first membranes that were used were not restorable by the body so they had to be removed prior to completing the implant restoration. Today, several companies have developed restorable membranes that the body will completely remove in anywhere from four to eight weeks. One of the most important factors in grafting using membranes is the stability of the graft and the membrane. |
