What is bone grafting?
When an individual undergoes a tooth loss due to infection, caries or trauma, a long span of missing tooth leads jawbone to deteriorate with disuse. Often this issue goes unnoticed until one makes a visit to the dentist for the need of a treatment like dental implants.
For dental implants in India to be a success it is mandatory to have enough bone support & in cases with deficient bone, it can only be achieved by the procedure called bone grafting or bone augmentation.
Bone grafting makes the impossible procedure possible & fulfills all the functions just like the natural ones.
Bone grafting involves the placement of artificial bone or bone from the donor site to the site need to be regenerated. Extensive bone grafting procedures are often performed several months before the implant placement & sites with minute or small bone loss that can allow implant placement easier are often regenerated at the time of implant placement itself.
Why does one need bone grafting for dental implants in India?
If your dentist tells you that you’ll need a bone graft that implies you do not have an adequate amount of bone to support an implant.
Teeth afflicted by infection, gum disease or missing teeth are often noticed to undergo bone loss. Hence, for patients to receive dental implant treatment, it’s highly important to understand that there must be sufficient bone available for successful outcome.
What is the ideal timing for bone grafts?
As stated above for extensive bone grafting procedures i.e. minimal bone availability site, procedure is performed few months before the implant placement to allow the bone to regenerate so that it can support an implant during the placement. And for site with minimal bone loss but can support an implant, bone graft can be added at the time of implant placement.
Hence, bone grafts to be placed before or during the implant placement depends upon the clinical situation & radiographic evaluation.
For bone grafting procedures, where does the bone come from?
One undergoing bone grafting procedure certainly deserves to know the different sources of bone grafting.
Autogenous/autograft: the bone is taken from patient’s own body. The bone is harvested from chin, ramus, angle of mandible, tibia, iliac crest.
Autograft is considered to be the safest as it avoid the chances of graft rejection & has the highest success rate. But one of the cons to this technique is that the procedure of harvesting bone from the same individual requires two sites to heal.
Allogenic bone graft: The bone is harvested from cadaver or animal of the same species as recipient.
In order to avoid cross-contamination & make a counterbalance to immune reactions the donor bone has to undergo many treatment sequences. Since these grafts do not contain living cells, also to avoid risk of disease transmission, these grafts are barely used in practice.
Xenograft: bone is harvested from animals, usually bone of bovine origin. Xenograft either can be used alone or with allograft. The organic material is completely removed, which releases it from all possibilities of infection & makes it non-immunogenic & safe to use.
Alloplast: are synthetically derived. Alloplastic materials are: calcium phosphates (hydroxyapatite & tricalcium phosphate) & calcium sulphate.
They have mechanical properties similar to those of bone. Hydroxyapatite is the most commonly used amongst the other synthetic grafts, due to good osteoconduction property, thus it is widely used for regeneration procedures.
Is bone grafting procedure safe & pain free?
There are always certain risks associated with any surgery. Bone grafting is a common procedure practiced nowadays.
For this procedure to be successful & safe there must be no signs of active infection like: abscess, swelling, and pain at the recipient & donor site as well.
Also, patients must understand the importance of good oral hygiene maintenance & prevent the exposure of the grafted site to the oral environment.
The procedure is often performed under local anesthesia. One might experience a bit discomfort post operatively that could be managed via use of medications.
Pain is temporary but giving up on something that can benefit your appearance & health could be permanent & devastating.
Have you ever been informed that you do not have an adequate amount of bone & can’t undergo dental implant placement procedure?
Contact Dr. Sachdeva’s Dental Institute, we understand your concern & with the use of innovative techniques we can correct all types of bone deficiencies & let you enjoy the privilege of having dental implants in India.
