Bone Grafting

We use bone grafting to repair implant sites that are lacking in bone structure because of previous extractions, gum disease or injuries. We obtain the bone from a tissue bank or we repurpose your own bone from your jaw, hip or tibia (leg bone below the knee.) To replace the bone in the posterior (rear) upper jaw, we may perform a sinus bone graft. In addition, we may utilize special membranes that dissolve under the gum, protect the bone graft and encourage bone regeneration in a process called guided bone regeneration or guided tissue regeneration.

In most cases, major bone grafts are performed to repair jaw defects or deficiencies, which are typically results of traumatic injuries, tumor surgery or congenital defects. We repair large defects using the patient’s own bone. The source of this bone will depend on the defect's size, but common donor sites include the cranium (skull), iliac crest (hip) and tibia (lateral knee). Patients undergoing these procedures can expect a visit to the operating room and hospital stay is required.

You can find the maxillary sinuses behind your cheeks and above your upper teeth. Sinuses are like vacant, empty rooms. Some roots of the natural upper teeth extend up into the maxillary sinuses. When these teeth are removed, just a thin wall of bone separates the maxillary sinus and the mouth. To be held in place, dental implants need to attach to bone. If the sinus wall is too thin, dental implants cannot attach to the bone.

Sinus grafts or sinus lift grafts can work around this problem. With this solution, the dental implant surgeon enters the sinus from where the upper teeth used to be. Then, the sinus membrane is lifted upward and the surgeon inserts donor bone into the floor of the sinus (the roof of the upper jaw). The bone will become a part of the patient’s jaw after several months of healing, and dental implants can be inserted and stabilized into the new sinus bone.

Sinus grafts are a great new technology that makes it possible for many patients, who previously may have had to resort to loose dentures, to have dental implants.

If there exists enough bone between the upper jaw ridge and the bottom of the sinus to stabilize the implant well, sinus augmentations and implant placement can sometimes be performed as a single procedure. If there isn't enough bone available, we'll perform the Sinus Augmentation first and allow the graft to mature for several months, depending upon the type of graft material used. Once the graft has matured, we can place your implants!

In severe cases, the ridge has been reabsorbed and we'll need to place a bone graft to increase the ridge height and/or width. Ridge Expansion is a technique that restores lost bone dimension when the jaw ridge is too thin to place conventional implants. With this solution, we use mechanical means to expand the bony ridge of the jaw. This allows us to place and mature bone graft material for a few months before placing the implant.

You may have these procedures performed separately or together, depending upon your condition. Several areas of the body are suitable for attaining bone grafts, including the inside the mouth, the chin or third molar region or in the upper jaw behind the last tooth. If a greater quantity of bone is needed, we can attain grafts from the hip or from the tibia at the knee. The best results come from using the patient’s own bone for repairs or addition.

For dental implants, we can also use allograft material to implement bone grafting. This safe, effective procedure uses grafts prepared from cadavers, and these bones are used to facilitate growth in the patient's own bone into the repair site. Alternatively, we can utilize synthetic materials to stimulate bone formation. In this case, we'll use factors from your own blood to promote bone formation in graft areas.

Patients undergoing these surgeries can expect to visit the out-office surgical suite under IV sedation or general anesthesia. After discharge, patients will be directed to undergo bed rest for one day and limit physical activity for one week.