Are Dental Implants Received Following Bone Graft More Successful?

Presently a preferred tooth replacement option dentists recommend to patients affected by tooth loss is dental implants. Unfortunately, despite the immense popularity of implants, their failure is also increasing.

The increasing failure rate of dental implants is compelling dentists to focus on improving the dental implant success rate. Bone augmentation is one technique that helps increase implant success rates.

Why Are Bone Grafts Essential for Dental Implants?

Soon after losing one of several teeth, bone resorption starts in the alveolar ridge or the bone holding your teeth. As a result, within approximately 12 months of tooth loss, you lose around 25 percent of your jawbone. This indicates the longer you wait to replace your teeth with dental implants in Caledon, ON, you might experience considerable jawbone resorption, making it incapable of supporting the implants.

Fortunately, loss of jawbone doesn’t mean you cannot get dental implants. If the supporting bone in your mouth is too thin, soft, or short, you can receive bone grafting from the dentist in Caledon to support the titanium post. Besides bone resorption, other factors that might require bone grafting include bony defects from trauma or infections and dental implant placements in strategic sites for aesthetic purposes and functionality.

The Bone Grafting Procedure

If you must get teeth implants to replace your missing teeth and need a bone graft, dentists prefer sourcing bone from your body from the back, lower jaw, hip, and chin. Synthetic bone obtained from animals and purchased from tissue banks is also used by dentists.

Your oral surgeon will take CT scans of the site needing the grafting and put you under sedation to administer local anesthesia. Next, a block of bone is positioned and anchored with titanium screws. The surgical site is surrounded by loose bone graft material. The bone will integrate with your body and grow with non-bone cells that will convert into bone cells in the weeks or months following the procedure.

Minor bone grafts are also performed on the same day of dental implant placement. However, bone grafts require four to six months of healing before becoming effective for implant placement. Successful bone grafts can augment 30 percent more bone into the area.

Dental implant placements will depend on the graft location and the density of the bone. If necessary and appropriate, you can have temporary teeth like dentures or breaches while you wait for the bone to heal and don’t want to display gaps between your teeth.

Dental implants after bone grafting undoubtedly make them more successful than having them without sufficient jawbone in your mouth. Dental implants need a durable base to provide stable security to the titanium post after integrating with it in the osseointegration process. However, if you have insufficient bone and get the implants placed by an inexperienced dentist, you will confront the challenge of implant failure sooner than expected. Therefore the thought of receiving bone grafting before getting implants shouldn’t scare you because the dentist plans your treatment and works closely with you from the first consultation to determine the procedure that will work best for your situation. Dentists also ensure that your bone grafting process is entirely painless before, during, and after your surgery.

Getting Implants Placed after Bone Grafting Surgery

Following bone graft surgery, the procedure augments the lost bone in your mouth, making you suitable to receive dental implants from the Caledon dentist. Receiving dental implants is not scary and will not expose you to considerable challenges.

Depending on how many implants are needed, you can receive dental implants to replace your missing teeth in one appointment. However, you will experience some discomfort after getting dental implants in your jaw. You will receive post-operative instructions to care for the implants and not irritate or damage the surgical site.

Dental implants must also integrate with your jawbone in a process requiring three to six months. The titanium post must fuse with your jawbone to provide stable support to an abutment and a custom-created artificial tooth from dental grade porcelain to function as your replacement tooth.

Dental implants received after bone grafting and cared for appropriately can remain with you for life with care and regular dental visits for exams and cleanings like your natural teeth. Implanted teeth appear and feel natural and stay indistinguishable in your mouth, making everyone believe you never lost your natural teeth.

Kennedy North Dentistry provides dental implants for patients with jawbone resorption by suggesting bone grafting to help secure the implants for life. If you have lost your teeth and have not received replacements, immediately consulting this practice to receive dental implants following bone grafting is an excellent solution for your situation.