Bone & Soft Tissue Grafting

Bone Grafting

Bone atrophy in the jaw and alveolar ridge (the bone that surrounds and supports the teeth) is associated with prolonged tooth loss because the roots of your natural teeth are no longer continuously stimulated when you chew to keep it healthy. For a good dental implant placement, patients require a certain amount of healthy bone in the jaw.

If you have bone loss in your jaw and are interested in receiving dental implants, your oral surgeon may recommend bone grafting in the implant area to help ensure that your implants have long-term viability. Drs. Friedman, Schulhof, and Montazem are experts at the bone grafting procedures that offer our patients with bone loss a chance to receive the dental implants they desire. As oral and maxillofacial surgeons trained in the full scope of oral surgery procedures, our doctors also use bone grafting in the treatment of other oral and maxillofacial conditions, such as in the repair of facial abnormalities and injuries.

Types of bone grafting

Since bone grafts are so effective at helping to build bone mass and strength in areas of the jaw where implants are to be placed, bone grafting is often a first step in the dental implant process. These types of bone grafts usually consist of a solution of granulated bone material (or other healing agents) that is applied to the areas with insufficient bone. The bone material we use is sourced either from another part of your body or a tissue bank. At North Jersey Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, we perform several types of bone grafting treatments to meet our patient’s needs:

• Ridge Expansion. If the bone that surrounds your teeth (the alveolar ridge) has atrophied, it may not be dense enough to support dental implants. In cases such as these, your oral surgeon may recommend a ridge augmentation procedure before having dental implants placed. During the ridge expansion procedure, bone graft material is inserted into the area of your implant to stimulate bone growth.
• Sinus Lift. The sinus is a natural hollow space in the face, neighboring the upper arch of teeth. If the bone that separates the sinus from the oral cavity is too thin to support a secure dental implant placement, your oral surgeon may recommend a sinus lift procedure. For this procedure, a bone graft is placed in the jaw below the sinus membrane to supplement the area.
• Socket preservation. When bone loss occurs after tooth loss or an extraction, a socket preservation procedure can reinforce the bone in the empty tooth socket to prepare the socket for a dental implant. Your oral surgeon may fill your tooth socket with bone grafting material immediately after an extraction to prepare the site if you are planning on having an implant placed to restore your tooth.
• Nerve Repositioning. In some rare cases, the nerve that gives sensation to the lower lip and chin may need to be repositioned to accommodate a good dental implant placement in the lower jaw. This procedure is considered a last option after less aggressive approaches have been tried first. (There is often post-operative numbness of the lower lip and jaw area, which dissipates very slowly, if ever.)
• Specialty Implants. Patients who are lacking sufficient bone structure in their jaws who do not want to undergo extensive bone grafting may be candidates for the advanced, cutting-edge implant options we offer at our practice. Zygomatic implants can bypass weak areas of jaw bone where there is no possibility of a sinus lift or bone graft. This type of implant is placed in the cheekbone of the skull, called the zygoma, where bone is very dense and solid. In the case of a full-arch restoration procedure, one to two zygomatic implants can be used to form a long-lasting and sturdy restoration. Blade implants are flat implants that are designed to avoid nerves and sinuses when placed in areas of the jaw and are used when the jaw bone ridge is too thin to place a traditional implant. Subperiosteal implants, which consist of a framework that lays over the bone, are custom- created out of titanium from a computer-generated model of the patient’s actual jaw bone. These frameworks are then affixed to the jaw bone with tiny screws.

Bone & Soft Tissue Grafting in Teaneck, NJ

As oral and maxillofacial surgeons, Drs. Friedman, Schulhof, and Montazem are highly experienced and trained in a wide range of soft tissue and bone grafting techniques. During your consultation with your oral surgeon, the health of your gum tissue and your jaw bone will be assessed to discover if a tissue or bone graft will benefit you.

Bone and soft tissue grafting can make dental implants an option for patients who have insufficient bone or soft tissue on the oral cavity to support a strong dental implant placement. If needed, undergoing these procedures can greatly improve the stability and viability of your dental implants. Please give North Jersey Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery a call if you have questions about the grafting procedures we perform at our practice, or if you are ready to schedule your consultation with one of our skilled oral surgeons. We look forward to providing you with the very best oral surgery care!