Bone Grafting

Bone grafting procedures are nearly exclusively used for patients undergoing implant treatments.

For optimal success, dental implants should be placed so that they are fully encased in bone.

When a tooth is missing, the bone that held it in place is no longer required and the body dissolves it away. This happens to varying degrees depending on the patient and the particular implant site.

Depending on the case, implant placement may be done at the same time as bone grafting. Rarely, bone grafting procedures may need time to heal before implants can be placed.

Bone grafting or soft tissue grafting can be used to augment the gum contour and overall appearance of how a front tooth emerges from the gum giving a more natural appearance to your dental implant crown.

Sinus lift procedure

This is a bone grafting procedure where bone is placed into the air sinus (above your upper jaw and beside your nose) to facilitate implant placement in the upper molar regions. This may be required as this air sinus becomes larger with age and if teeth are missing for some time.

Bone grafting materials

In some selected cases, your own bone may be harvested from another site in your mouth and grafted into the new site. More often, we use processed bone and membrane products.
The bone is de-proteinated bovine bone. This is sourced from cows and essentially acts as a calcified matrix for the hosts bone to grow around. A membrane must be placed over the grafted bone to allow it to heal away from the gum, saliva and micro-organisms in the mouth. This is of porcine origin and is sourced from pigs.

Bone grafting can be performed comfortably under local anaesthetic or intravenous sedation.

What is the recovery period?

This depends on the type of grafting, the size of the graft and your own particular healing! A full assessment of this can be made at your consultation. All patients receive a prescription and comprehensive written post-operative instructions following a surgical procedure. Sick certificates can be issued on request.