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3 Things To Know About Bone Grafting For Dental Implants

22 December 2014

Oscar Allen

After making the decision to get a dental implant to replace a missing tooth, you may be alarmed when your dentist tells that you need bone grafting before the implant can be installed. Bone grafting is a normal part of dental implants, and here are three things you should understand about this.

It is done only when necessary

Dentists will not perform bone grafting unless they absolutely have to. A dental implant is a prosthetic device placed inside the jawbone. It holds a dental crown in place and is used as a way to replace a missing tooth.

In order for a dentist to put an implant in, there must be a sufficient amount of jawbone in your mouth. If your jawbone is not tall enough or wide enough, the dentist will not be able to put the implant in until he or she adds more bone to this area.

It often involves your own bones

The second thing to understand is that when a dentist completes bone grafting, he or she will try to use your own bones for the grafting. Grafting a bone involves removing bone particles from one place in your body, and moving these bones to another place.

For implant surgery, the dentist may locate a section of your jaw that contains a lot of bone, and he or she may remove this section to use for the grafting procedure.

If there is no way to use your own bones, the dentist could use bone particles from a cadaver, or there are also synthetic types of bone materials that dentists can also use if necessary.

The process takes time

After having bone grafting, you should understand that the implant will not be installed for a while. The dentist will want to let the bone grafting heal, and this may take up to nine months. During this time, you will need to take care of the wound in your mouth, and this often involves:

• Taking pain medication – Bone grafting can be painful, but pain medication generally relieves most of the discomfort.
• Taking antibiotics – Your dentist may recommend taking antibiotics to make sure the area does not get infected.
• Avoiding certain foods – You may not be able to eat hard or crunchy foods for several weeks because these foods can irritate the grafting.

Bone grafting is not always necessary for dental implants, but there are times it is. If your dentist like the one from http://www.salemdentistry.net tells you that this is needed, it is because your jawbone is not large enough to support the implant. If you would like to learn more about this, talk to an implant dentist in your area.

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