Bone grafting is a dental procedure to add or preserve jawbone. The jaw bone will ‘shrink’ after the extraction due to loss of support. By having the bone graft in the extraction site, it will preserve the bone volume to allow dental implants to have better support.

Do I Need Bone Grafting?

Bone grafting is commonly used to prepare a patient for dental implants. It is recommended to have bone graft after the extraction if you are planning to have implants at a later time.

A bone graft can restore your jawbone’s health and allow you to become a candidate for dental implants. After your doctor has added the new bone to your existing bone, there is a three to six months healing period during which everything fuses together.

The Bone Grafting Procedure

Bone grafting procedures can sometimes be done at the same time as a dental extraction or other procedure to make the process as efficient as possible. In general, a bone grafting procedure involves placing bone graft material in areas where the bone is too sparse. The bone graft material consists of tiny granules of bone suspended in a gel. The bone granules can come from another part of your body or a tissue bank.

There are a few types of bone grafting procedures, and depending on your condition you may need one or more of the following:

• Sinus lift. Sinus lifts add bone above the upper molars to make sure the wall that divides the sinus and the oral cavity is thick enough for implant placement.
• Socket preservation. Socket preservations preserve the bone around an empty tooth socket after an extraction. Sometimes the oral surgeon can place the bone graft at the same time the tooth is extracted to reduce the number of procedures for the patient.
• Ridge expansion. When teeth are missing for a long time, the bony ridge that holds the teeth can become too small to support dental implants. A ridge expansion increases the width of the alveolar ridge to make space for implants.