Rebuilding and Maintaining Bone

Regardless of the treatment option you choose, it is important to prevent or reverse any jawbone loss. By doing so, you ensure that adequate bone is available for all future tooth implant procedures. Whether you are currently anticipating an extraction or your missing tooth occurred years ago, steps should be taken to ensure the integrity of the jawbone.

The bone grafting material used to restore or preserve the jawbone can come from several sources:

• Bone harvested from the patient’s own body (autogenous)
• Bone harvested from a human cadaver
• Bovine (cow) bone
• Synthetic grafting material

It is important to ask your implant dentist which type of grafting material will be used in your procedure. The optimal grafting materials are those that are fully resorbable. This means that the grafting material is resorbed into your body as it is converted into permanent bone. Grafting materials that merely fill the space and do not convert to your own bone are not as desirable and may jeopardize the durability and strength of the ridge line.