Bone grafting is the replacement or alteration of the bone in your jaws or around your teeth.
Why Do I Need a Bone Graft?
To have a more successful implant
After you lose your tooth, the bone surrounding the missing tooth is no longer used and it starts to shrink immediately. This shrinkage will cause the bone to become thin and almost impossible to support an implant.
To make a loose denture fit better
Bone graft will help with stabilizing and better supporting the denture. The jaw bone constantly shrinks with age, smoking, or some systemic diseases such as diabetes or even chewing pressure on the existing denture.
Esthetic
Lastly, bone grafts are used to enhance the esthetics of the missing tooth’s site
Bone Graft Treatment
This procedure replaces the missing bone, either using your spare existing bone such as your jaw bone, or an artificial, synthetic or natural substitute which will have a similar effect. Depending on the technique used, the bone graft may need a few months to heal before any additional work can be done.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Like most other procedures, bone grafts are not free of possible complications. You should be aware that there is a slight chance of failure or loosening of the graft due to
infection, poor stabilization of the graft, some systemic disease and more commonly smoking habits.