Bone Grafting Procedures in Implant Dentistry
Approximately 85% of all of the patients that I see for dental implant
procedures have an adequate amount of bone. The other 15% will need some type
of bone augmentation procedure in order to insure that their implants take
properly and are serviceable throughout their lifetime. I do not always know in
advance when a grafting procedure will be necessary and sometimes, that
decision is made at the time of surgery.
There are several types of bone grafting procedures available to us
today. All of these procedures are used frequently and they have enjoyed a high
success rate. The most successful type of bone graft is when we use some of the
patients own bone. We do this fairly frequently and it is often accomplished
easily by saving bone that we remove when we are drilling to place the dental
implants. In more complicated procedures, bone is taken from other areas such
as the chin or the hip. Needless to say, when bone is used from the hip, this
is a procedure that is done in the hospital and utilizes the services of a
physician.
If we do not have enough of the patients own bone to build up an area,
then we have to use bone from other sources. The most common source of bone of
this type is cadaver bone (This bone is called Freeze Dried Bone due to the
process that is used in saving it). This bone is
harvested in a bone bank under very strict supervision to insure that there are
no diseases transmitted. Each vial of bone is carefully traced from the donor
to the recipient to further insure safety. To my knowledge, this every day
procedure has never had any problems in medicine or dentistry.
Occasionally, synthetic bone material or bone material from other
species such as cows is used for building up an implant site. These products do
not have the potential of your own bone or freeze dried bone, but they are
fairly effective.
No matter what graft material has been used, over a period of time, it
will be replaced by your own bone. Bone grafting is a safe and effective means
of improving dental implant sites for the successful use of dental implants and
dental implant supported restorations.
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