A dental bone graft is an oral surgery procedure that adds volume and density to the jawbone in areas where bone loss has occurred. It is often used to enhance the jawbone to accommodate a dental implant or to preserve the natural teeth in that area. The bone graft material can be taken from the patients own body (autogenous), purchased from a human tissue bank (allograft), obtained from an animal tissue bank (xenograft), or it may be synthetic (alloplast).
There are four main types of dental bone grafts:
- Socket preservation: This type of graft is placed in the socket immediately after a tooth extraction to fill the void left behind by the missing tooth and prevent the sides of the socket from caving in.
- Sinus lift: This procedure is performed in the upper jaw and involves adding bone graft material to the area between the jaw and the maxillary sinuses to increase the height of the jawbone and create a stable foundation for dental implants.
- Ridge augmentation: This type of graft is used to increase the width or height of the jawbone to support dental implants.
- Block bone graft: In this procedure, a block of bone is taken from another part of the patient's body and grafted onto the jawbone to provide additional support for dental implants.
The bone graft procedure involves adding bone to the area where bone loss has occurred, and the grafted bone integrates with the existing bone during the body's natural healing process, creating a strong foundation for future dental work. This procedure can increase a patient's eligibility for dental implants and other restorative treatments, as it restores the jaw to its original form following trauma, tooth loss, or gum (periodontal) disease.
