Wednesday, February 08, 2012  |  11:17:33 AM

When teeth are missing over a period of time, the jawbone shrinks. This often leaves a condition in which there is not enough bone for placement of dental implants. In these situations, most patients are not candidates for dental implants until the missing bone is restored.

We now do have the ability to grow bone where needed. This not only gives us the opportunity to place implants of correct size in the ideal position to replace missing teeth, it also allows us to restore chewing ability and esthetic appearance. These bone graft procedures are referred to as:


Sinus Graft Procedure

This procedure involves placing the bone graft onto the sinus floor to increase the height of bone present. Then, implants can be placed in the back area of the upper jaw.
 

Before

After

Ridge Augmentation

This means that a specific type of bone graft is done to widen or increase the height of bone in other areas of the jaw not involving the sinus. In most cases, the bone graft needed is taken from another part of the jaw and placed in the deficient area. After this bone joins solidly to the jawbone, then implants can then be placed and crowns built on them.