INFORMATION FOR PATIENTS

Why do I need a bone graft or bone regeneration procedure?

There are some reasons why you might not have enough bone:

• • When teeth are lost or extracted, the bone surrounding your tooth root can shrink gradually.  This is called atrophy.

  • Gum disease and other infections can cause bone loss.

  • An injury to the mouth can lead to bone loss.

Dental Bone Grafting procedures are widely performed. 

• As part of a Dental Implant Procedure.

What bone grafting or bone regeneration procedures are commonly performed?

The body wants to heal itself.  Sometimes we can give it a helping hand.  In the case of a dental implant procedure, we can replace lost bone or add additional bone to help better support the implant and make our smile more natural. 

We can add bone from another part of the mouth and wait for it to heal. This requires a second surgical site which adds complexity to the procedure as well as pain and discomfort. As an alternative, we can use a proprietary bone graft material or in some cases recycle your extracted teeth using a special process that allows it to be crushed and cleansed in the practice and put back into the hole to help bone grow to replace the lost tooth roots. 

How much new bone we need to regenerate can depend upon the extent of bone shrinkage or loss that has occurred. 

It is estimated that up to 60% of all dental implant procedures benefit from a bone augmentation procedure.  The most common two procedures are:

• • Minor bone augmentation: Often called a simultaneous procedure where the bone graft or regeneration material is applied around an implant at the same time that the implant is placed.

• • Staged bone graft: If too much bone has shrunk, a bone grafting procedure may be required before the implant is placed.

What materials are used?

Your Dentist uses a bone graft material to fill the space and support new bone healing.  The bone graft material chosen can be:

• • AUTOLOGOUS DENTIN (Your tooth). The extracted tooth is crushed and cleansed using a special process such as the one by Kometabio. After processing the ground-up dentin as it is called is re-introduced to stimulate new bone healing.

• • AUTOLOGOUS BONE (You). Bone can be taken from somewhere else in your mouth such as your chin or the back of your jawbone. 

• • CADAVER BONE (Allograft). Bone sourced from a deceased person that has been processed and crushed in a tissue bank laboratory.  An example of allograft bone is Rocky Mountain Tissue Bank Allograft. 

• • ANIMAL BONE (Xenograft). Bone sourced from animal tissue such as cows and pigs is crushed and processed in a commercial laboratory that follows European CE certification. An example of this is Ti-oss.

• • SYNTHETIC BONE (Alloplast). A synthetic bone-like material typically containing calcium phosphates is created in a laboratory according to European CE certification. This type of material is sometimes called an alloplast. An example of a synthetic bone graft is Powerbone Dental Putty

How are these materials used?

Traditional bone graft materials will be in granular or particulate like large grains of salt.  To help hold the granules in place,  your dentist may cover the area with a barrier called a dental membrane.  

Dental membranes can be resorbable or non-resorbable depending upon the case.  Resorbing dental membranes dissolve and do not need a second procedure to remove them.  Non-resorbable dental membranes need to be removed surgically after your bone has grown back into place.

Resorbing Barrier Membranes are made from animal tissue – typically pig and are processed in a laboratory under strict conditions. More recently fully synthetic materials have been created to replace animal tissues. 

An example of a resorbing collagen barrier membrane is T-Gen. An example of a resorbing synthetic barrier membrane is the Powerbone Synthetic Barrier Membrane.

Sometimes your dentist will choose a bone graft material that has been refined to make it easier and quicker to apply or which moulds to the defect shape better.  Recent advances include mouldable, self-stabilising synthetic bone graft putties and semi-solid cone-shaped materials that do not require a dental membrane to keep them stable during the initial healing phase.    

Examples of this are Powerbone Dental Dental Putty or Socket Cone Grafts.