1. WHAT IS BONE GRAFTING?
To ensure the greatest success of dental implants it is important that there is enough bone to support them. The main reasons for the loss of a tooth include periodontal disease, dental decay, injury or trauma, infection or developmental defect. If there is not enough bone to support the implant then you will require a procedure to build this up before the implant can be placed.
Bone augmentation is a description used to describe several different procedures allowing us to build bone in areas where it is missing. The bone can come from 2 different sources:
- Natural – A graft can be taken from you own jaw or chin which can then be attached the jaw
- Synthetic – this is man made and encourages the surrounding bone to grow into the graft and fuse with the existing bone
The augmentation process can take anything up to 6 months to complete.
Your dentist will recommend a suitable procedure depending on the type, location and number of implants to be used.