Bone grafting

There are many ways in which bone grafting can be done. Very often, we can use "bone in a bottle" to do bone grafting for dental implants. This bone is specially prepared from cadavers or other sources and used to get your own bone to grow into the repair site. It is very effective and very safe. Sometimes synthetic materials can be used to stimulate bone formation and sometimes we even use factors from your own blood to accelerate and promote bone formation in graft areas.


Sometimes it is as simple as collecting bone when preparing an implant site and then reusing the bone for grafting purposes. Whenever we can use your own bone for repairs or additions, we will get the best results. In extreme cases, bone can be harvested from areas outside the mouth. The most common area is the hip. Needless to say, when this type of bone graft is done, everyone has to be fully prepared and you would usually find yourself in a hospital setting with a physician actually removing the bone from your hip.


Very often, bone grafting is done in combination with what dentistry refers to as a "Barrier Membrane Technique". Membranes made out of special materials are placed over bone graft sites to keep out the types of soft tissue cells we do not want and promote the growth and migration of cells which will turn into normal, healthy bone. These membranes are very successful and are used quite a bit these days to promote sound bone formation. The membranes are usually removed at a later date, but sometimes they can be resorbed by the body and disappear all on their own.
In addition, it is not uncommon to use "screws" and "tacks" to secure membranes and bone grafts at an implant site. Sometimes these pieces will also have to be removed at a later date, but rest assured that all of these components and grafting materials are safe and effective and their use has gone a long way in increasing the success rates of dental implants.

The Sinus Lift:
The human skull has several cavities or air spaces which are called "sinuses". They are part of the overall design of human beings to make the head lighter so that it can be supported on our neck. Sometimes the sinus are enlarged and intrude on areas where we want to place dental implants. We cannot place a dental implant into the sinus because we would just be placing it into an air cavity and nothing would hold it into place (although, very often, implants that are placed securely into solid bone will protrude a small way into the sinus) so when we encounter this problem, we place bone or bone growth stimulating material into the sinus.

This procedure really only affects the maxillary sinuses which are located just over the molar teeth in the upper jaw. There are no sinuses in the lower jaw. When the maxillary sinus prevents the placement of an implant, we merely open up the side of the sinus and raise the bottom portion of the sinus so it will fill in with bone. We can then go back several months later and place our dental implants in solid bone. Sometimes, there is enough bone to place the implants at the same time that you raise the floor of the sinus. This will save time.

There are some more conservative ways to grow bone in the sinus. We can do what is called an "Osteotome Lift" and just raise the floor of the sinus right over where we are placing an implant. This can be done without actually opening the sinus and healing and implant integration will then proceed as if the sinus was not in the way. Sinus lifts of all types have a high success rate and are commonly used today for promoting dental implant procedures.