Bone Grafts
Over a period of time, the portion of the jawbone where there are missing teeth dies off or is reabsorbed. This often leaves a condition in which there is poor quality (soft) and quantity (not enough height or width) of bone suitable for placement of dental implants. In these situations, most patients are not candidates for placement of dental implants. It would be like putting a mailbox in sand or in a flower pot – not a stable position!
Today, we have the ability to add bone where we need it. This not only gives us the opportunity to place implants of proper length and width, it also gives us a chance to restore the use of teeth and esthetic appearance. Keystone Dentistry is also one of the only practices to use a special extra step in our procedure that ensures that our bone grafts have the best possible outcome. And, since we use sterilized allograft bone, we don’t need to take bone from your own body like some oral surgeons do.
For the surgical placement of the bone graft, we typically recommend I.V. sedation to our patients for two reasons. The first reason is most people are anxious or unable to tolerate the procedure. The second and more important reason is that we use the I.V. to draw a small amount of your blood. Before we place the bone graft, your blood is spun in a centrifuge to separate it into different parts. This creates a layer of blood called Platelet Rich Plasma or PRP.
PRP is the portion of your blood that exponentially increases both the rate and intensity of the healing process. We remove this PRP layer and add it to the bone graft to increase not only the speed at which it adheres to the bone, but also the final strength! Surgeons who place bone grafts without this step have more failures and can also have “soft” bone which creates a poor foundation for something that is supposed to last a lifetime. With our strict procedures, we are able to create a much more predictable outcome and increase the hardness of the bone; we have had cases where the bone we placed is harder than that surrounding it!
At the end of the procedure we place a small white mesh material that will keep the graft in and food and other particles out. Sutures are placed and the area is allowed to mature for about three months before moving to the next phase of treatment. Typical post-operative pain is minimal and usually controlled with your preferred over-the-counter pain relief.
Find out how Keystone Dentistry can help improve your smile with bone grafts and make the dental implant process easy. Call us to find out if you are a candidate for bone grafting today!