Regenerating and reconstructing lost bone is one of the primary things that we specialize in at Pinnacle Periodontics. Bone grafts can help build up a weakened jaw and better stabilize dental implants. The process of bone grafting will depend on the condition of your jawline.
We will lay out the basics of bone grafting so you can see if this step may be needed for you!
Is Bone Grafting Good For Me?
We highly recommend bone grafting for people dealing with weak bones or jawbone loss. However, there are other areas where bone grafting is typically used.
These types of conditions usually require bone grafting:
Severely Damaged Jawline
If you’ve suffered significant jawbone loss, bone grafting could be the solution so that you can have dental implants.
Bone Loss Around Teeth and Implants
The special techniques we utilize allow us to regrow bone around teeth and implants.
Missing Teeth
Bone grafting can prepare the jaw for dental implants when teeth are missing.
Before and Afters
Why Is Bone Grafting Important?
Your oral health is essential to maintaining your overall health. Healthy structure in your mouth is what helps you eat, drink, and breathe properly for a healthy lifestyle—bone grafting helps to maintain those structures.
To start, bone grafting is often used to help maintain the dental ridge. The dental ridge is the bone that holds the tooth in place to the jawbone. Through old age, genetics, or misuse, these ridges can disintegrate and weaken away—causing damage to the jawline.
As you can imagine, the lack of a stable dental ridge can lead to missing teeth, difficulty chewing foods, and further pain. It is best to get this procedure done sooner to get to the root of the dental issue.
Types of Bone Grafting
When your dentist visit arrives, your dentist will recommend a procedure specific to the work that needs to be done to your jawline. Here are each of the methods and their abbreviations. As always, feel free to call our dentist with any more information!
Periodontal Grafting (Perio)
Periodontal grafting allows us to regrow and regenerate bone and the supporting tissue around your tooth root, this method is the most minimally-invasive way to give you natural tissue and save your teeth after periodontal disease.
Ridge Preservation (Ridge Pres)
Ridge preservation grafting is a crucial step to ensure you preserve bone after tooth loss. When a tooth is extracted the bone shrinks and can prevent you from getting a dental implant. The ridge preservation technique occurs at the time of tooth extraction and this graft allows you to get dental implants and preserve existing bone around your remaining teeth.
Ridge Augmentation (Ridge Aug)
We are often referred people who have bone that is too thin or too small for dental implants; some have even been told implants are not an option. One of the main procedures that distinguishes our practice is the ability to augment and reconstruct lost bone on the dental ridge so implants CAN be placed.
We will discuss options at your appointment, but we can get your bone back so that you can replace your teeth with dental implants. Do not let anybody tell you implants are impossible—come see us at Pinnacle Periodontics!
Sinus Augmentation/Lift (Sinus Aug/Lift)
In your upper jaw, the bone is sometimes not tall enough to place dental implants before they are in your sinus—an air cavity above the upper teeth. This is another situation where some people are told they cannot have implants.
Let us show you how we can reconstruct the bone vertically by lifting the floor of your sinus with a bone graft so that you can get dental implants to support your replacement teeth.
Call Us Today to Take the Steps for a Stronger Smile
Our dental team is highly skilled in strengthening the roots of your mouth in a minimally invasive way. Call Pinnacle Periodontics in Provo, Utah, to get started with bone grafting today!