Bone Grafting for Implants

Do I Have Enough Bone?

After tooth extraction, if the walls of the socket are very thick, they will usually fill naturally with bone in two to three months. However, when the walls of your socket are very thin (such as in your upper and lower front teeth), this type of healing will not be as predictable. In these situations, a bone graft is often placed at the time of tooth extraction to help your body fill in the empty socket with bone. This step will maintain the width and volume of bone you will need for implant placement several months later.

There may be inadequate bone for implant placement if your tooth was removed many years ago and your bony ridge is extremely thin. In this case, a bone graft can be placed next to the thin bone and allowed to heal for up to six months. After the graft has fused to your pre-existing bone, the ridge will be re-entered and the implant placed. 

Dr. Lee is the inventor of the S.M.A.R.T. JAW RECONSTRUCTION method, a novel minimally invasive laparoscopic bone grafting technique.  Traditional bone grafting often involves multiple procedures and a lengthy treatment duration. Complex cases may also require a block of bone to be harvested from the mandible or pelvis in a hospital environment.  These approaches may result in complications and suboptimal esthetics. The S.M.A.R.T. TM method is an alternative for many of these situations, providing predictable results with less pain, less swelling and fewer complications.  It is however, a technique sensitive procedure that requires specific surgical instrumentation and training, which are provided exclusively by S.M.A.R.T. Biomedical.   S.M.A.R.T. JAW RECONSTRUCTION  may impact future of jaw bone grafting in the same way cardiac stents and angioplasties virtually eliminated!  As the expert in S.M.A.R.T. JAW RECONSTRUCTION, Dr. Lee can offer simple and efficient alternatives to more complicated traditional procedures.  Call us to find out more now!

You may also need bone grafting if the sinus cavities in your upper jaw are very large, or very low, and extend into the tooth-bearing areas. This often occurs when teeth in the back of a person’s upper jaw have been removed many years before, and the amount of bone available for implant placement is limited. A “sinus grafting procedure” is then required. Most often, it is performed in the office with local anesthesia and perhaps sedation. During this procedure, the membrane that lines the sinus will be located and elevated. Bone will then be added to restore the bone height and ensure that dental implants of an adequate length can be placed. This procedure often can be performed at the time of implant placement.