At Midland Family Dental Care, some patients are not eligible candidates for dental implants because they lack in sufficient jaw bone structure to support the artificial tooth roots. In these circumstances, Midland Family Dental Care may recommend bone grafting surgery to ensure that the patient has a strong foundation to support dental implants. Read on to learn more about the bone grafting procedure at our Wyckoff office
How does bone grafting work?
First, what exactly is a bone graft? A bone graft is a surgical procedure used to build up new bone in the jaw area to hold teeth. In order to get the best results from dental implants, a strong foundation is needed to hold the artificial tooth roots that are screwed into the jaw bone. Small incisions are made in the gums to expose the jaw bone, and then grafting material is added. Grafting material can either be synthetic or come from another part of your body, usually the hip. For patients who have minimal jaw bone loss, this surgery can be performed at the same time as the dental implant procedure. For those patients with extreme jaw bone loss, the jaw will need recovery time to heal before the implants are applied. In these circumstances, it can take up to quite a few months before the actual dental implants procedure. Once the jaw bone has healed and the tooth roots have fused to the bone (the process of osseointegration), it is time to apply the natural-looking replacement teeth. While this procedure may require some time investment, trust us, it’s worth the wait.
Learn more: contact Midland Family Dental Care
If you’re interested in restoring and rejuvenating your smile with dental implants, contact us for your personal consultation with Dr. Puccio or another one of our expert physicians. During your consultation, a comprehensive oral examination will be performed to see if you are eligible for dental implants. If you have experienced jaw bone loss, our doctors may suggest bone grafting to provide you with a strong foundation for dental implants so you can get the best results for your smile. Contact us today at our Wyckoff, NJ office to schedule your consultation to see if you’re a candidate for dental implants!