Bone Grafting
Bone grafting is a procedure required to place implants, when a patient does not have sufficient bone, either height and/or width, in their jaw where the implant needs to be placed.
There are several types of bone grafting procedures each being used in different situations where there isn’t enough bone to place implants. Some may include, socket grafting, onlay grafting, an osteotome, sometimes referred to as a partial sinus lift, and sinus augmentation also referred to as a full sinus lift.
Bone can be harvested from the patient from another part of the body and used for the grafting material, but in most instances, we use either bovine, cadaver or synthetic bone particles and titanium mesh, which act as a scaffolding for your own bone to grow bone on.
In many instances, bone grafting can be done at the time of the extraction and implant placement. However, in some instances, when the bone graft is very large, the bone graft must be done and allowed to heal for a period of four to six monts before implants can be placed.