If you’ve been injured or had oral surgery and lost some bone, a graft can actually be used to help. When the injury is large and complex, a bone graft is performed in the operating room, but when it’s straightforward, like after routine wisdom teeth removal, it can be done as an outpatient procedure. The bone that’s grafted will come from your own tissues or a cadaver, and often both are needed to fill in the area.
A dentist in Wichita Falls, TX, recommends bone grafting if bone volume loss has occurred in the area of the tooth extraction. Bone volume loss, or BVLG, is common in many teeth extracted today. In most cases where bone grafting is necessary after a tooth extraction, the graft material can be placed at the time of surgery by your dentist and the oral surgeon. The most commonly used material for a bone graft is demineralized freeze-dried bone allografts (DDBA).
Why Should You Consider Doing Bone Grafting?
Bone grafting is a common practice for the following reasons:
- To help fill cavities that are losing bone due to periodontal disease, trauma, tooth extraction, or other dental procedures.
- To help stabilize a tooth that has been weakened by periodontal disease or trauma.
- To help in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis and other degenerative joint diseases or injuries.
- To increase the height of a lower jaw when an implant is needed but there isn’t enough available bone in the area, due to severe bone loss or infection loss associated with periodontitis or injury to the jawbone.
What Does Bone Grafting Involve?
The procedure involves taking a sample of the patient’s own healthy bone tissue and using it to fill in areas where there is less bone or none at all. An incision will be made to remove the graft material from inside the body. This can be done from either inside your mouth or outside through a small incision or cut.
A donor site will be chosen for the graft to be placed into. For example, if your gums need more volume, an area in the gum will be removed and sent to a laboratory so that it can be processed into a graft material that can then fill in your empty space.
The dentist will discuss with you which donor site is the best option for you. Your gums and jawbone have several layers. The innermost layer of the gum and jaw combines with the growth factor. This layer holds the graft together and forms new bone cells that can regenerate into your body.