What You Should Know about Bone Grafting Procedures

Are you suffering from a missing tooth due to tooth decay or injury? If so, you need to seek immediate dental care to prevent the risk of further oral health complications. Most dentists often recommend dental implants as the most reliable option for tooth replacement treatments. However, dental implants may not be suitable for patients with insufficient bone density that is needed to support the implant screw inserted below your gum line. For such cases, your dentist may recommend a bone grafting procedure. This procedure helps increase the bone in your jaw where the dental implant will be fitted. During bone grafting procedures, the bone may be obtained from a donor source or a synthetic material being used. Read on to learn more about Monterey bone grafting.

Before the procedure

Before the actual bone grafting procedure, your healthcare provider will advise you to prepare yourself properly for the treatment by avoiding the use of certain medications, such as blood thinners that tend to increase your risk of bleeding during surgery, avoiding drinking or eating anything at least 8 to 12 hours before the treatment, and make arrangements for someone to escort your home after the procedure. The main misconception most people have about bone grafting procedures is that it is very painful. However, this is not the case since you will be injected with local anesthesia during the treatment. Your doctor may also administer pain-relieving medications to help when the anesthetic wears off.

Actual Procedure

Once the local anesthesia is administered, any damaged teeth will be extracted to leave room for the dental implant, and if there are any donor sites, bone harvesting will be performed. Your dentist will clean the treatment site and make a small incision in your gum tissue to expose your bone. The bone graft material is inserted into the exposed bone and firmly secured with screws or a dissolvable adhesive membrane. The previously made incision is then carefully closed to avoid any infection to your gums, and the healing process begins. There are three major types of dental bone grafting procedures.

Each of these procedures is essential for treating different jaw disorders; they include;

Block bone grafts

Here your bone is extracted from the back of your jawbone and attached to the area with insufficient bone density.

Socket graft

Here bone grafting happens at the same time your damaged tooth is removed. This is very effective in preventing bone loss.

Sinus lift

Here, bone grafting is done on your upper jaw to restore its stability and also restore the sinuses to their normal position.

Recovery

After your dental bone grafting procedure, there are several after-care guidelines you will be required to follow, such as eating soft foods, placing ice packs on the treatment area to relieve pain and swelling, sleeping with your head slightly raised to prevent pooling of blood on the incision site, avoid drinking hot beverages, and avoid any physical activity that may expose the incision area at risk.

Dental bone grafting procedures’ side effects usually last 1-2 weeks and gradually disappear. Partial functioning of your jaw will be restored, but it will take some additional months to regain your jaw function fully. You are also advised to make periodic appointments with your dentist, who will monitor your healing progress. As mentioned earlier, dental bone graft procedures are generally safe and very effective in treating long-term health complications linked with gum disease and tooth loss.