Bone Grafting for gum disease

Periodontal Regenerative Surgery (bone grafting in gum disease)

 

What Is It?

A bone graft is used to recreate bone and soft supporting tissues lost due to gum disease. It's also called regenerative surgery.

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What It's Used For

Regenerative surgery is a treatment for the gum disease. People with periodontitis lose gum coverage and bone support around their teeth.

Regenerative surgery can be used in certain types of defects to regrow the lost tissues. This usually involved a minor surgical procedure under local anesthesia to achieve the end result.

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Preparation

Before your surgery, you need to have basic periodontal treatment called scaling and root planing. You also must be taking good care of your teeth. You should brush twice a day and floss daily. A local anesthetic is used to numb the area for surgery. During the next six to nine months, your body fills in the area with new bone and soft tissue. In effect, this reattaches the tooth to your jaw.

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How It's Done

The goal of this surgery is to coax the body into rebuilding the bone and other structures that attach a tooth to the jaw. The holes (defects) in the bone will be filled in with a graft material. Then they will be covered with a physical barrier.

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Bone grafting materials commonly used include bits of:

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1. Your own bone

2. Cadaver bone

3. Cow bone

4. Synthetic glasses

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Barriers are used to cover the grafting material in the early stages of healing. They also prevent the gums from growing into the bony defect. Barriers are made from human skin, cow / pig skin or synthetic materials.

The choice of materials can be discussed with the periodontist (gum specialist) and if you have specific preferences / restrictions on types of materials used, there are always alternatives.

We recommend you discuss this with our Periodontist during your consultation.

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Ridge Preservation

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An alveolar ridge augmentation after tooth extraction, or "ridge augmentation," involves placing Bone Graft material directly into the empty socket where a tooth's roots used to be, to help create the natural shape of the gums and jaw that may have been lost following tooth extraction.

Patients usually need a ridge augmentation procedure after losing one or more teeth, to prepare for future dental restorations or placement of dental implants.