Surgical Bone Grafting
The health and integrity of your jaw can be affected by a variety of circumstances, but the loss of one or more teeth roots is one of the most impactful factors. The stimulation that your teeth roots provide when you bite and chew is essential to receiving an ample supply of minerals and nutrients. After losing a tooth root, this nutrient supply diminishes with the diminishing stimulation. This can lead to the gradual loss of the bone’s mass and density, and for many patients, grafting may be necessary to fortify this foundation before replacing lost teeth with dental implants.
Ridge augmentation
Ridge augmentation involves placing biocompatible bone graft material into the empty socket of your mandible where your tooth root once lay. This helps restore the height and contour of your dental ridge where it has lost support, as the bone surrounding the socket will bond to the graft material filling it. While ridge augmentation is not always necessary, it may help boost the success of your dental implant placement by offering a more substantial foundation for it to rest upon. For optimal results, we often suggest ridge augmentation after performing tooth extraction, before replacing the tooth with a dental implant. However, we may also recommend it as a prerequisite procedure for patients who’ve already lost one or more teeth.
Sinus augmentation
Ridge augmentation can help fortify your lower dental ridge after losing a tooth. However, if you’ve lost teeth on your upper ridge, then sinus ridge augmentation may provide the same benefits. Given the limited space compared to your mandible, and the presence of the sinus floor in close proximity, the process of augmenting your upper dental ridge isn’t the same as fortifying your lower one. Implants require a substantial amount of bone structure to support them, and with sinus ridge augmentation, your chances of successful implant placement for your upper teeth can be much higher. During sinus augmentation (or a sinus lift), we’ll carefully lift the sinus floor to make room for the graft material to be placed below it.
Learn if you need bone grafting
If your dental ridge has lost some of its mass and density over the years – a common result of tooth loss – then the right bone grafting procedure can help fortify it before you receive your dental implant posts. To schedule your consultation, call the Texas Institute of Oral, Facial & Implant Surgery in Midlothian, TX, today at 469-649-8259. We also serve patients who live in Dallas, Mansfield, Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Desoto, Red Oak, Waxahachie, Ft. Worth, and all surrounding communities.