Bone Grafting

Bone grafting is a specialized type of dental surgery that is done to reestablish bone in areas where there has been significant bone loss. Bone loss is the natural result of edentulous areas; that is, where there is no tooth. Your body is  very intelligent and highly regulated; it knows not to waste its resources providing and maintaining bone to areas that don't need it (i.e. where there is no tooth!).

This is where bone grafting can be valuable; our surgeons are able to replace bone in those areas that have lost bone. Why is bone so important? There are many reasons, but oftentimes bone is important to us for implant purposes. Implants can only be placed in areas where there is an adequate foundation of bone. If you've been told you do not have enough bone for an implant, you may still be able to receive an implant after grafting procedures. For those patients that need a tooth out and are 100% certain they would like an implant to replace their tooth, great news, bone grafting can often times be performed at the same time as your extraction! We do this in order to optimize the chances of a having a suitable amount of bone for your future implant, once the tooth is out.