Bone Grafting and Socket Preservation

A bone graft is a surgical procedure that replaces missing bone with material from the patient's own body or an artificial, synthetic, or natural substitute. Socket Preservation is when bone grafting is done in a socket after an extraction. The graft not only replaces missing bone, but also helps your body to regenerate its own bone. This new bone growth strengthens the grafted area by forming a bridge between your existing bone and the graft material. This bone loss can be reversed. Over time your own newly formed bone will replace much of the grafted material.

Over a period of time, the jawbone associated with missing teeth atrophies or diminishes. This often leaves a condition in which there is poor quality and quantity of bone suitable for placement of dental implants. In these situations, most patients are not candidates for placement of dental implants.

We now have the ability to grow bone where needed. This gives us the opportunity to place implants of proper length and width, and it also provides us a chance to more effectively restore natural appearance and function.